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BX  955  .K7813  1909 

Kr  uger,  Gustav,  1862-1940 

The  papacy 


THE  PAPACY 


THE    PAPACY 


THE   IDEA   AND   ITS   EXPONENTS 


/v 


GUSTAV    KRUGER 

PROFESSOR  OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY  IN  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  GIESSEN 


Translated  by  F.  M,  S.  Batchelor  and  C,  A.  Miles 


NEW   YORK 

G.     P.     PUTNAM'S    SONS 

27  AND  29  West  230  St, 

1909 


NOTE 

As  no  satisfactory  short  history  of  the  Papacy, 
covering  its  entire  development,  at  present  exists 
in  English,  it  is  hoped  that  this  volume,  by 
07ie  of  the  foremost  German  authorities  on 
ecclesiastical  history,  may  prove  useful  in  its 
translated  form. 


(All  rights  reterved.) 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

FAOB 

INTRODUCTION  .  .  .  .  .  .7 


CHAPTER  II 
THE   BEGINNINGS  .  .  .  .  .13 

CHAPTER  III 
TWO  GREAT  POPES         .  .  .  .  .28 

CHAPTER  IV 
THE   COMPACT   WITH   THE    FRANKS  .  .  .45 

CHAPTER  V 
STORMY  TIMES  .  .  .  .  .68 

CHAPTER  VI 
GREGORY   VII.    AND   HIS    SUCCESSORS      .  .  .78 

CHAPTER    VII 
AT   THE    SUMMIT   OF   POWER  .  .  .99 


Contents 


CHAPTER   VIII 


PAGE 


THE  BABYLONIAN  CAPTIVITY  AND  THE  PARLIAMENTARY 

GOVERNMENT   OF   THE   CHURCH      .  .  .    120 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  POPES  AS  PATRONS  OF  THE  FINE  ARTS 


141 


CHAPTER    X 
THE    GERMAN   REVOLUTION 


160 


CHAPTER  XI 


FRESH   TROOPS. 


180 


CHAPTER    XII 


DEFEATS 


199 


CHAPTER  XIII 


RECONSTRUCTION 


219 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE   FUTURE   IN   THE    LIGHT   OF   THE    PRESENT 


249 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


LIST   OF   ROMAN   PONTIFFS 


INDEX 


267 

269 
271 


THE    PAPACY 


CHAPTER    I 

INTRODUCTION 

IN  his  famous  essay  on  Ranke's  "History  of 
the  Popes "  Macaulay  writes  :  "  There  is 
not,  and  there  never  was  on  this  earth,  a 
work  of  human  policy  so  well  deserving  of 
examination  as  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
The  history  of  that  Church  joins  together  the 
two  great  ages  of  human  civilisation.  No  other 
institution  is  left  standing  which  carries  the 
mind  back  to  the  times  when  the  smoke  of 
sacrifice  rose  from  the  Pantheon,  and  when 
cameleopards  and  tigers  bounded  in  the  Flavian 
amphitheatre.  The  proudest  royal  houses  are 
but  of  yesterday,  when  compared  with  the  line 
of  the  Supreme  Pontiffs.  That  line  we  trace 
back  in  an  unbroken  series,  from  the  Pope 
who     crowned    Napoleon    in    the    nineteenth 


8  The  Papacy 


century  to  the  Pope  who  crowned  Pepin  in 
the  eighth  ;  and  far  beyond  the  time  of  Pepin 
the  august  dynasty  extends,  till  it  is  lost 
in  the  twilight  of  fable.  The  republic  of 
Venice  came  next  in  antiquity.  But  the 
republic  of  Venice  was  modern  when  com- 
pared with  the  Papacy  ;  and  the  republic  of 
Venice  is  gone  and  the  Papacy  remains.  The 
Papacy  remains,  not  in  decay,  not  a  mere 
antique,  but  full  of  life  and  youthful  vigour." 

In  1840,  when  these  winged  words  were 
written,  men's  minds  were  full  of  the  extra- 
ordinary increase  of  power  which  the  Papacy, 
seemingly  doomed  to  decay  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolution  and  of  Napoleon,  had  gained  under 
the  Restoration.  Since  then  two  generations 
have  passed.  The  year  1870  has  intervened, 
with  its  triumph  and  its  defeat.  The  jewel  of 
Infallibility  has  been  added  to  the  papal  tiara 
by  Pius  IX.,  and  that  at  the  very  moment 
when  the  movement  for  Italian  unity  robbed 
him  of  the  temporal  crown.  To-day  Rome  is 
still  a  world-power,  and  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter  does  not  shun  the  fight,  but  looks 
forward — even  in  the  most  difficult  circum- 
stances of  the  present  time — to  that  victory 
which  grace  from  on  high  shall  give  him. 

Two  hundred  and  sixty  Popes  have  sat  in 
Peter's  Chair.     It  is   not   our  intention   to  tell 


Introduction  9 

of  those — and  they  are  many — who  have  ruled 
in  name  only,  for  the  greatness  of  the  story 
of  the  Papacy  lies  precisely  in  this  :  that  the 
small  men  pass  away  like  dust,  while  constantly, 
after  periods  of  decline,  strong  personalities 
arise  to  carry  the  Idea  onward  to  victory. 
What  is  this  Idea,  and  of  what  sort  have  the 
men  been  who  have  stood  for  it?  This  is 
the  question  which  we  will  set  ourselves  to 
answer. 

"  When  Jesus  came  into  the  coasts  of  Csesarea 
Philippi,  He  asked  His  disciples,  saying.  Whom 
say  ye  that  I  am  ?  And  Simon  Peter  answered 
and  said.  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
him,  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona :  for 
flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee, 
but  My  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  And  I  say 
also  unto  thee.  That  thou  art  Peter ;  and  upon 
this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church  ;  and  the  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.  And  I 
will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven :  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind 
on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven  :  and  what- 
soever thou  shalt  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed 
in  heaven."  Such  is  the  tradition,  declared 
sacred  by  the  Church,  according  to  the  evan- 
gelist St.  Matthew. 

The   battle   over  these   words   still   rages   on 


lo  The  Papacy 

all  sides.  Roman  Catholics  see  in  them  the 
solid  foundations  on  which  stands  the  heaven- 
ward-soaring fabric  of  their  papal  Church. 
Orthodox  Protestants,  resting  their  faith  on 
the  Bible,  will  have  none  of  that.  They  do 
not  question  the  promise  to  St.  Peter,  which 
to  them  also  is  sacred ;  but  they  will  not 
extend  it  to  his  successors,  and  are  careful  to 
distinguish  spiritual  from  temporal  power. 
Finally,  modern  critics  have  put  a  question 
mark  against  this  tradition,  as  against  so  many 
others.  They  point  out  that  the  words  of 
Jesus  to  St.  Peter  have  no  parallel  in  a 
similar  context  in  the  other  Gospels.  They 
remind  us  that  in  the  literature  of  the  two 
first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  nothing  is 
heard  of  this  weighty  promise,  nay,  that  the 
authenticated  history  of  apostolic  and  post- 
apostolic  times  stands  in  strange  contradiction 
to  it.  Nor  can  they  find  in  the  words  and  acts 
of  Jesus  anything  to  render  intelligible  such  a 
care  for  His  "  Church  " — or  His  •'  congregation," 
as  Luther  prudently  rendered  it.  We  need  not 
settle  the  dispute,  but  we  make  no  secret  of 
the  fact  that  to  us  also  the  authenticity  of 
these  words  of  Jesus  seems  more  than  impro- 
bable. Like  a  prophet  wise  in  the  light  of 
past  events,  the  historian  can  only  say  that 
no  better  motto  can    be    found  for  the  history 


Introduction  1 1 

of  the  Papacy  than  this  sentence  of  the  "  Rock  " 
which  shines  in  golden  letters  in  the  dome  of 
St.  Peter's — a  glittering  symbol  of  the  might 
and  splendour  of  the  Roman  Church. 

If  we  consider  the  personality  of  St.  Peter, 
what  significance  has  it  for  our  history  ? 
According  to  the  traditions  of  the  Primitive 
Church,  put  together  most  fully  by  St.  Jerome 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  St.  Peter, 
after  he  had  been  bishop  of  Antioch  and  had 
preached  to  the  believers  of  the  Circumcision  in 
Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia, 
came  to  Rome  in  the  second  year  of  the  reign 
of  the  Emperor  Claudius  (a.d.  42),  and  there 
ruled  as  bishop  for  twenty-five  years,  finally 
suffering  martyrdom  on  the  cross,  head  down- 
wards, in  the  last  year  of  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Nero  (in  a.d.  67  therefore,  not  64).  In 
this  tradition  almost  everything  is  legendary, 
especially  St.  Peter's  silver  wedding,  to  repeat 
a  well-known  expression,  with  the  Roman  See. 
It  cannot  even  be  clearly  proved  by  unques- 
tioned testimony  that  St.  Peter  ever  was  in 
Rome  at  all  ;  in  any  case  he  exercised  no 
demonstrable  influence  on  the  course  of  events. 
Yet  here  also  the  historian  must  acknowledge 
that  nothing  could  more  worthily  preface  this 
history  than  the  haloed  figure  of  the  chief  of 
the  apostles.     With  words  of  power — so  legend 


12  The  Papacy 


tells — he  brings  his  arch-enemy,  the  heaven- 
storming  magician,  Simon,  down  again  to  earth, 
so  that  he  is  dashed  to  pieces  before  all  Rome. 
And  yet  in  his  humility  he  feels  himself  un- 
worthy to  be  crucified  in  the  same  manner  as 
his  Lord  and  Master. 

According  to  the  account  in  the  last  chapter 
of  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  John,  the  risen 
Lord  said  to  St.  Peter,  "  Feed  My  lambs ! "  and 
twice  He  repeated  it  with  emphasis,  "  Feed  My 
sheep ! "  That  also  is  a  legend.  But  if  ever  a 
legend  contained  a  truth  these  words  do.  They 
reveal  the  inmost  meaning  of  the  history  of  the 
Papacy.  Every  Pope  who  has  taken  his  office 
seriously  has  looked  upon  it  as  the  office  of 
Pastor  to  the  flock  of  the  faithful  entrusted  to 
him  by  God  and  His  Anointed  in  the  succession 
of  St.  Peter. 


CHAPTER    II 


THE  BEGINNINGS 


IN  the  days  of  the  Emperors  Claudius  (a.d. 
41-54)  and  Nero  (54-68)  a  Christian  church 
was  formed  in  Rome.  We  do  not  know  who 
was  the  founder,  but  it  is  improbable  that  any 
single  person  played  the  part  which  legend 
assigns  to  St.  Peter.  Jews  and  Jewish  prose- 
lytes were  probably  in  the  majority  until  the 
increase  of  heathen  converts  pushed  them  into 
the  background  and  they  gradually  disappeared. 
This  church  very  soon  gained  prestige  beyond 
the  boundaries  of  Rome.  Even  in  early  times 
the  Christians  in  the  Empire  looked  to  her  for 
leadership  and  advice.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
first  century  a  letter  was  sent  on  behalf  of 
the  Roman  church  by  the  learned  Clement — 
the  third  successor  of  St.  Peter  according  to  the 
official  reckoning  of  the  Popes — to  the  church 
at  Corinth,  at  that  time  torn  by  dissensions. 
It  testifies   eloquently   to   the   discreet  way  in 


14  The  Papacy 

which  the  Romans  gave  their  advice  after 
judiciously  weighing  all  the  circumstances,  and 
also  to  the  assurance  with  which  they  asserted 
their  authority.  Shortly  after,  Ignatius,  Bishop 
of  Antioch,  on  his  way  to  martyrdom  in  Rome, 
praises  the  church  in  the  highest  terms  in  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  brethren  there ;  and 
again,  a  few  decades  later,  we  read  as  follows 
in  a  letter  of  Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Corinth : 
"From  the  beginning  ye  have  been  wont  to 
show  forth  divers  good  works  towards  all  the 
brethren.  To  many  churches  in  divers  towns 
have  ye  sent  supplies  and  in  this  manner  either 
relieved  the  poverty  of  the  needy  or  provided 
necessary  sustenance  for  the  brethren  in  the 
mines.  By  such  gifts  do  ye  as  Romans  remain 
faithful  to  the  customs  inherited  from  your 
fathers.  So  also  has  your  worthy  bishop  Soter 
not  only  kept  up  this  custom,  but  has  practised 
it  in  increasing  measure,  for  not  only  does  he 
make  lavish  distribution  of  the  gifts  for  the 
saints  [i.e.,  the  members  of  the  church],  but 
he  also  cheers  the  brethren  coming  from  afar 
with  blessed  words,  as  a  loving  father  cheers 
his  children." 

The  above-mentioned  Bishop  Soter,  in  office 
about  the  year  170,  was  certainly  the  sole 
head  of  the  church.  Roman  Catholic  tradition, 
however,  asserts  that  from  the  beginning  the 


The  Beginnings  15 


Roman  church  was  directed  by  one  bishop  as 
successor  of  the  chief  of  the  apostles ;  Linus, 
Cletus,  Clement,  Evaristus,  Alexander,  Sixtus, 
Telesphorus,  Hyginus,  Pius,  and  Anicetus  are 
the  names  of  those  who  are  reckoned  as 
"  Popes "  before  Soter.  But  no  unimpeachable 
testimony  supports  this  tradition.  The  small 
bands  of  believers  who,  in  different  quarters 
of  the  great  city,  assembled  in  the  house  of 
some  good  master- worker  for  praise  and  prayer, 
for  the  hearing  of  God's  Word,  and  for  the 
breaking  of  bread,  were  not  at  first  so  closely 
connected  with  each  other  that  it  would  be 
possible  to  speak  of  one  centralised  leadership. 
It  is  indeed  in  the  nature  of  human  relation- 
ships that  even  in  such  circumstances  certain 
men  stand  out  as  leaders  by  virtue  of  some 
commanding  quality.  Such  must  have  been  the 
case,  for  example,  with  Clement,  who  as  a 
freedman  of  the  Flavian  imperial  house  may 
have  gained  an  ascendancy  over  his  fellows 
through  his  superior  education.  But  in  the 
letter  to  the  Corinthian  church  which  goes  by 
his  name  it  is  in  no  way  the  bishop  who  speaks  ; 
the  name  of  Clement  is  nowhere  mentioned,  and 
only  indirect  evidence  points  to  him  as  the 
author.  Nevertheless  there  are  distinct  indica- 
tions that  at  an  early  date  the  exigencies  of 
worship  and  administration,  but  above  all   the 


1 6  The  Papacy 


need   for  a   line   of    demarcation   between    the 
Christian  Church  and  sundry  conventicles  which 
fostered  heathen  or  Jewish  heresies  under  the 
cloak   of   Christianity,   compelled   the   separate 
congregations    to     band     themselves     together 
under    a    common     head.     With     enthusiastic 
idealism   Ignatius   of  Antioch   composes  varia- 
tions on  the  theme  of  the  bishop  as  vicegerent 
of  God,  without  whom  Church  life  is  an  impos- 
sibility.    Before   him  even,  and  with  consider- 
ably greater  realistic  force,  it  had  been  explained 
in  Clement's  epistle  how  the  apostles,  after  they 
had  received   their  charge   from   Jesus    Christ, 
the  envoy  of  God,  proclaimed  the  news  of  the 
Kingdom    of    God    in    town    and    village    and 
appointed   those   converts  who  were   the   first- 
fruits  of  their  missionary  labours  to  be  bishops 
and    deacons    of     the    future    believers.      The 
bishops   as   "  successors  of   the   apostles "   form 
a    chain    which    maintains    the    unity    of    the 
present  with  the  earliest  times,  and  the  Roman 
bishop  as  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  is  called  to 
be  the  chief  link  in  this  chain  of  tradition. 

In  the  meantime  legend  had  been  at  work. 
It  was  an  established  historical  fact  that  St. 
Paul,  having  appealed  to  Caesar,  had  pi*eached 
to  the  church  in  Rome  while  undergoing  light 
imprisonment  pending  his  trial.  The  manner 
of    his   going   to   Rome   is   related   simply   and 


The  Beginnings  17 

trustworthily  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  In 
the  year  170  A.D.,  however,  the  Corinthians 
believed,  and  Bishop  Dionysius  bears  witness 
to  it,  that  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  had  founded 
the  church  of  Corinth,  that  both  had  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  Roman  church  also,  and  had 
suffered  martyrdom  together.  The  dispute 
between  the  two  apostles  at  Antioch,  so  clearly 
described  by  St.  Paul  himself  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians,  had  thus  been  forgotten.  It  is 
in  the  name  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  that 
Rome  is  to  conquer.  A  few  years  after  Diony- 
sius, Bishop  Irenseus  of  Lyons,  whom  the 
Catholic  Church  honours  as  the  oldest  of  the 
Fathers,  wrote  these  now  famous  words : — 

"As  it  would  be  tedious  in  a  book  of  this 
nature  to  enumerate  the  [apostolic]  successions 
of  all  the  churches,  I  will  point  to  the  tradition 
(which  she  inherits  from  the  apostles)  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  the  greatest  and  the  oldest, 
known  everywhere,  founded  and  established  by 
the  glorious  apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  and  to  the 
faith  proclaimed  throughout  the  whole  world 
[Rom.  i.  8],  which  has  come  down  through  a 
succession  of  bishops  to  our  own  time.  .  .  . 
With  this  church,  on  account  of  her  special 
rank,  every  church,  i.e.,  the  faithful  in  every 
place,  must  be  in  agreement." 

The  precise  explanation  of  these  words,  which 
2 


1 8  The  Papacy 


are  only  preserved  in  a  Latin  translation  from 
the  Greek  and  can  hardly  be  rendered  into 
good  English,  is  still  a  matter  of  controversy. 
It  is  clear,  however,  that  the  Roman  church  is 
singled  out  as  the  foremost  of  a  great  number 
of  churches  reaching  back  to  early  Christian 
times,  in  order  to  show  by  her  example  the 
value  of  the  unbroken  ecclesiastical  tradition 
as  against  the  innovating  tendencies  of  heretical 
sects.  It  is  clear,  on  the  other  hand,  that  we 
are  not  justified  in  reading  into  the  words  of 
Irenseus  a  legal  superiority  of  the  Roman 
church  over  the  other  churches. 

In  any  case  these  churches  were  not  disposed 
to  admit  such  a  claim,  if  it  was  ever  advanced, 
and  the  so-called  Paschal  controversy  affords  a 
proof  of  it.  The  Christian  churches  on  the  coast 
of  Asia  Minor,  especially  those  of  Ephesus  and 
Smyrna,  had  always  jealously  guarded  their 
independence.  They  too  appealed  to  apostolic 
tradition.  The  graves  of  St.  John  and  St. 
Philip  were  to  be  seen  at  Ephesus,  and  the 
venerable  Polycarp,  himself  one  of  the  Apostle's 
pupils,  was  at  the  head  of  the  church  in  Smyrna 
until  the  year  156.  Now  it  was  one  of  the  ancient 
customs  of  these  churches  always  to  keep  the 
Paschal  feast  on  the  day  of  the  Old  Testament 
Passover — i.e.,  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the 
Jewish  month  Nisan,  regardless  of  the  day  of 


The  Beginnings  19 

the  week  on  which  it  fell.  At  Rome,  on  the 
contrary,  and,  as  it  appears,  everywhere  else, 
it  had  become  the  custom  to  hold  the  feast  on 
the  Lord's  Day  (Sunday)  after  the  14th  Nisan, 
in  commemoration  of  Christ's  resurrection  on 
that  day.  Polycarp  of  Smyrna,  with  one  foot 
in  the  grave,  had  not  shrunk  from  the  long 
journey  to  Rome  (in  154)  in  order  to  discuss 
this  question  with  his  colleague  Anicetus.  If 
a  complete  understanding  had  not  been  possible, 
they  had  at  least  agreed  on  mutual  tolerance. 
A  generation  later  relations  once  more  became 
strained.  The  energetic  and  ruthless  Victor  of 
Rome  (189-198),  whose  term  of  office  is  impor- 
tant for  more  than  one  reason,  took  advantage 
of  a  division  among  the  Asiatics  to  interfere. 
He  threatened  to  excommunicate  those  churches 
which  were  still  resolved  to  keep  to  the  old 
custom,  and  carried  out  his  threat.  He  was 
severely  censured  by  many  of  the  bishops,  but 
the  result  was  in  his  favour.  The  bishop  of 
Rome  now  begins  to  assert  the  rights  of  an 
overlord. 

Victor  might  well  be  called  the  first  Pope. 
But  this  title  belongs  even  more  justly  to  his 
next  successor  but  one,  Calixtus  I.  (217-222). 
After  a  doubtful  past — he  was  said  to  have  been 
guilty  of  dishonest  banking  transactions — this 
ambitious    man    succeeded   Bishop    Zephyrinus 


20  The  Papacy 

(199-217),  whose  right  hand  he  had  become. 
The  church  of  Rome  must  at  that  time  have 
already  numbered  some  thousands,  and  it  is 
easy  to  understand  how  the  severe  discipline  of 
the  Primitive  Church,  which  expelled  grievous 
sinners  from  the  ranks  of  the  faithful,  relaxed 
by  degrees.  Calixtus  took  an  important  step 
by  admitting  the  principle  that,  after  due 
penance  done,  even  infringements  of  the  sixth 
commandment  should  not  involve  permanent 
excommunication  from  the  Church.  He  based 
this  arbitrary  decision  upon  his  "  power  of  the 
keys,"  i.e.,  upon  the  judicial  authority  bestowed 
by  the  Lord  on  the  apostles,  and  in  particular  on 
St.  Peter.  He  encountered  lively  opposition  in 
the  matter.  Part  of  his  congregation  elected 
a  rival  bishop,  the  presbyter  Hippolytus,  in 
opposition  to  him,  and  in  a  passionate  lampoon 
the  Carthaginian  TertuUian  attacked  with  his 
biting  sarcasm  the  Roman  bishop's  claims  to 
supremacy.  Thus  for  the  first  time  was  the 
promise  to  St.  Peter  brought  into  ecclesiastical 
controversy. 

The  episcopate  of  Calixtus  occurred  at  a  time 
of  peace  for  the  churches  as  regards  their  rela- 
tion with  the  State.  The  Emperor  Septimius 
Severus  {cir.  200)  had  oppressed  them  and  had 
tried  in  particular  to  curb  their  missionary 
activity.      Under     Caracalla,     Elagabalus,    and 


The  Beginnings  21 


Alexander  Sever  us  they  were  able  to  develop 
undisturbed.  This  was  especially  true  of  the 
Roman  church.  According  to  a  statement 
made  by  Bishop  Cornelius,  in  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  there  were  in  office  in  Rome 
forty-six  presbyters,  seven  deacons,  seven  sub- 
deacons,  and  ninety-four  clergy  of  lower  grades, 
while  the  list  of  those  recommended  to  the 
benevolence  of  the  church  showed  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  in  need  of  aid.  If  we  consider 
how  rigid  the  clerical  organisation — to  judge  by 
manifold  indications — must  have  been,  even  as 
early  as  this,  we  can  understand  the  saying 
reported  of  the  Emperor  Decius,  that  a  rival 
emperor  was  less  vexatious  to  him  than  a  new 
Roman  bishop.  It  was  this  same  Emperor  who, 
thinking  that  the  Christian  hierarchy  was  in  a 
fair  way  of  becoming  dangerous  to  the  State, 
organised  the  first  general  persecution  of  the 
Christians  (from  250  onwards).  Under  him  and 
the  Emperor  Valerian  two  Roman  bishops 
received  the  baptism  of  blood — Cornelius  in 
September,  253,  and  Sixtus  II.  on  August  6,  258. 
Our  attention  is  next  drawn  particularly  to 
Stephen  I.  (254-257),  because,  in  imitation  of 
Victor  and  Calixtus,  he  entered  the  lists  with 
reckless  energy,  to  further  the  idea  of  the 
Roman  primacy.  He  had  differed  in  opinion 
from  his    colleagues  in   Asia  and  Africa  on  a 


22  The  Papacy 

question  of  Church  government  which  bordered 
upon  the  realm  of  doctrine.  The  question  was 
whether  a  heretic  should  be  baptized  on  join- 
ing the  Church  or  whether  the  laying  on  of 
hands  and  the  consequent  bestowal  of  the  Holy- 
Spirit  should  suffice.  Stephen  upheld  the  view 
that  baptism  by  a  heretic  according  to  the 
regular  form  should  be  recognised  as  valid, 
but  that  only  in  the  Church  as  the  fellowship  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  did  it  become  efficacious.  His 
opponents  were  of  opinion  that  such  a  baptism 
was  nothing  but  an  unhallowed  ablution  which 
did  not  blot  out  sins  but  rather  added  to  them, 
and  was  therefore  to  be  considered  as  not 
having  taken  place.  In  order  to  enforce  the 
acceptance  of  his  view,  Stephen  now  invoked 
the  fact  that  as  occupant  of  the  Chair  of  St. 
Peter,  chief  of  the  apostles,  the  first-chosen  of 
the  Lord,  he  ranked  above  his  colleagues  and 
thus  had  the  right  to  provide  authoritatively 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  true  doctrine  in  the 
Church. 

The  spokesman  of  the  other  side  was  Cyprian, 
Bishop  of  Carthage.  Some  years  before,  in  a 
bulky  treatise  on  "  the  Unity  of  the  Church,"  he 
had  had  occasion  to  set  forth  his  views  on  the 
position  of  the  bishops — views  which  were  at 
that  time  in  complete  agreement  with  those  of 
Cornelius  of   Rome.     A  schism  in  the  Church, 


The  Beginnings  23 


which  arose  on  the  election  of  Cornelius,  and 
endangered  the  prerogatives  of  the  episcopal 
office,  had  involved  the  Carthaginian  community. 
As  against  the  schismatics  Cyprian  had  pointed 
out  that  the  unity  of  the  Church  depended  on 
the  unity  of  the  episcopate,  for  since  all  bishops 
were  successors  of  the  apostles,  and  after  His 
resurrection  the  Lord  had  extended  to  all  the 
apostles  (John  xx.  21)  the  promise  to  St.  Peter 
(Matt.  xvi.  18),  it  followed  that  in  their  multi- 
plicity unity  was  reflected.  Cyprian  had  at  that 
time  no  occasion  to  go  into  the  question  whether 
or  how  far  superiority  over  the  other  bishops 
belonged  to  the  Roman  bishop  as  successor  to 
St.  Peter  in  the  narrower  sense.  But  his  corre- 
spondence with  Cornelius  shows  that  he  saw  in 
the  Roman  church  "  the  womb  and  the  root  of 
the  Catholic  Church  "  for  the  very  reason  of  her 
peculiar  relation  to  St.  Peter. 

At  the  same  time,  Cyprian's  dispute  with 
Stephen  shows  that  from  this  pre-eminent 
dignity  of  the  Roman  See  he  deduced  no  rights 
that  would  affect  the  independence  of  the  other 
bishops,  but,  on  the  contrary,  set  his  face  firmly 
against  any  such  pretensions  on  the  part  of 
the  Roman  bishop.  He  vigorously  repels  his 
opponent's  attempts  to  put  the  primacy  of  St. 
Peter  on  a  different  footing  from  that  of  the 
other  apostles.     St.  Peter  himself,  he  points  out, 


24  The  Papacy 

claimed  no  rights  of  primacy  in  his  dispute  with 
St.  Paul  on  the  question  of  circumcision.  In 
the  direction  of  the  Church  each  bishop  has 
full  discretion,  each  one  has  received  a  part 
of  God's  flock  to  feed,  and  is  answerable  to 
God  alone  for  it.  He  and  Bishop  Firmilian  of 
Csesarea,  who  hastened  to  his  support,  expressed 
themselves  very  sharply  about  the  unbrotherly 
behaviour  of  Stephen,  who  set  himself  up  as 
chief  bishop  and  with  foolish  arrogance  boasted 
of  his  succession  to  St.  Peter.  Stephen,  on  the 
other  hand,  called  Cyprian  a  false  Christian  and 
a  false  apostle,  refused  to  receive  the  messengers 
of  the  bishop  of  Carthage,  and  excommunicated 
the  African  bishops,  when  they  still  refused  to 
accept  the  Roman  custom.  It  is  impossible  to 
say  what  the  result  of  the  dispute  would  have 
been,  if  the  persecution  of  Valerian,  to  which 
Cyprian  fell  a  victim  (September  14,  258),  had 
not  diverted  attention  from  it.  As  a  typical 
example  of  the  opposition  between  the  theories 
later  called  papalistic  and  episcopalistic,  this 
episode  has  remained  of  permanent  significance. 
The  question  of  the  validity  of  heretical  baptism 
was  not  decided  till  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century,  in  quite  different  circumstances,  and 
then  in  favour  of  the  Roman  view. 

To  questions  of  dogma,  in  the  narrower  sense, 
the  Roman  bishops  early  gave  their  attention. 


The  Beginnings  25 

Not,  indeed,  that  they  were  ever  great  theo- 
logians, but  from  the  beginning  they  felt  them- 
selves called  upon  to  protect  and  preserve  the 
true  faith.  The  words  of  Jesus  to  St.  Peter, 
recorded  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  (xxii.  32), 
"  I  have  prayed  for  thee  that  thy  faith  fail  not," 
contained,  as  they  firmly  believed,  the  guarantee 
that  the  "  gift  of  Grace,"  the  "  Charisma "  of 
truth,  which  all  bishops  possessed  as  successors 
of  the  apostles,  was  granted  to  them  in  a  special 
manner.  Bishop  Victor  made  a  far-reaching  use 
of  such  a  claim  when  he  cut  off  the  Roman 
leather-worker  Theodotus  from  fellowship  with 
the  church,  i.e..,  excommunicated  him,  because 
of  doctrinal  differences. 

An  episode  which  occurred  soon  after  the 
middle  of  the  third  century,  and  which  is 
known  as  the  "Dionysian  Controversy,"  is  full 
of  significance  as  regards  the  claims  and 
authority  of  the  Roman  bishop  in  questions 
of  belief.  Bishop  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  a  man 
with  theological  and  philosophical  interests,  had 
used  erroneous  terms  in  defining  more  closely 
the  metaphysical  relation  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son  in  the  Godhead.  His  colleague.  Bishop 
Dionysius  of  Rome  (261-272),  heard  of  it  and 
decided — we  should  now  say  ex  cathedra,  i.e.,  in 
virtue  of  his  office — that  it  was  best  to  leave 
such  subtleties   undiscussed   and   to  be  content 


26  The  Papacy 


to  speak — in  the  words  of  the  Creed — only  of 
God  the  Father,  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Bishop  of  Alexandria 
submitted,  and  said  that  he  had  been  misunder- 
stood. About  the  same  time  also  the  Emperor 
Aurelian  settled  a  dispute  between  two  parties 
in  the  church  of  Antioch  by  adjudicating  the 
possession  of  the  church  building  to  those  who 
were  agreed  in  doctrine  with  the  Italian  bishops 
and,  in  particular,  with  the  bishop  of  Rome. 

The  meagreness  and  fragmentary  character  of 
tradition  make  it  impossible  to  depict  in  striking 
colours  the  position  of  the  bishop  of  Rome  about 
the  year  300.  But  we  get  the  definite  impression 
that  his  opinion  had  unique  weight  in  the 
councils  of  the  bishops.  It  is  in  the  nature  of 
things  that  this  applies  primarily  to  his  influence 
in  the  West,  where  there  was  no  other  see  that 
could  have  had  the  slightest  chance  of  competing 
with  the  Roman  in  antiquity  or  in  pureness  of 
tradition.  Even  Cyprian  of  Carthage  never 
forgot  that  Africa  had  received  Christianity 
from  Rome.  Yet  there  can  be  no  question  of 
a  legal  superiority  of  the  Roman  bishop  even 
over  the  Western  bishops  outside  Italy.  Only 
over  the  Italian  bishops  had  he  ecclesiastical 
authority,  which  meant  that  the  right  of  conse- 
crating and  punishing  them  was  admittedly  his. 
This  right  was  not  in  any  way  confirmed  at  the 


The  Beginnings  27 

first  General  Council  of  Nicaea  in  the  year  325, 
but  was  accepted  as  existing  and  as  a  matter 
of  course.  Beyond  that,  however,  this  synod 
granted  nothing  to  the  bishop  of  Rome ;  and 
when  in  later  times  the  canon  of  the  synod, 
in  which  the  prerogative  of  Rome  is  alluded 
to,  was  provided  with  the  heading,  *'  Ecclesia 
rotnana  semper  habuit  primatum  "  ("  the  Roman 
church  has  always  had  the  primacy,"),  this  is 
only  the  first  of  the  numerous  falsifications  that 
accompany  and  support  the  continuous  growth 
of  this  primacy.  It  will  cost  many  a  hard 
struggle  yet  to  attain  the  ideal  which  imagina- 
tion— or  was  it  skilful  calculation  ? — projected 
back  into  the  past. 


CHAPTER  III 


TWO    GREAT    POPES 


THE  founding  of  Constantinople  in  the  year 
330,  and  the  permanent  removal  of  the 
centre  of  gravity  of  the  Imperial  government 
to  the  east  of  the  huge  Empire,  brought  great 
advantages  to  the  bishop  of  Rome.  It  is  true 
that  the  bishop  of  the  new  capital  was  an 
inconvenient  rival  who  had  in  view  nothing 
less  than  the  seizing  of  the  ecclesiastical 
supremacy  over  the  whole  East  by  pushing 
the  leading  bishops  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch 
into  the  background.  But  while  the  bishop  of 
Constantinople  became  more  and  more  a  court 
prelate,  who  had  to  set  his  sails  according  to 
the  wind  if  he  wished  to  maintain  his  place, 
the  bishop  of  Rome  was  able,  except  for  a  few 
fleeting  disturbances,  to  consolidate  his  position 
unhindered  by  the  control  of  the  secular  arm. 
And    when,    after   the   death   of   the   Emperor 

Theodosius,  the  two  halves  of  the  Empire  were 

28 


Two  Great  Popes  29 

finally  separated  and  an  "  Imperator "  resided 
once  more  in  Italy,  he  was  but  a  man  of  straw, 
in  face  of  whom  the  Pope,  as  we  may  now  justly 
call  him,  found  no  difficulty  in  maintaining  his 
independence. 

That,  however,  would  at  best  have  given  him 
supremacy  over  the  West.  What  he  claimed  as 
successor  of  St.  Peter  was  more  than  this — the 
command,  "  Feed  My  sheep,"  covered  the  whole 
of  Christendom.  And  this  claim  also  was 
favoured  by  circumstances.  Hardly  had  the 
bishops,  smiled  upon  by  imperial  favour,  been 
permitted  to  exercise  their  office  in  full  pub- 
licity, when  they  broke  out  into  heated  religious 
controversies.  Over  the  Arian  dispute,  i.e.,  the 
quarrels  as  to  the  dogma  of  the  consubstanti- 
ality  of  God  the  Father  and  His  Son,  the  Church 
threatened  to  fall  to  pieces.  Now  her  unity  was 
all-important  to  the  imperial  government,  and, 
in  order  to  preserve  it,  Constantine  and  his 
successors  brought  the  secular  arm  into  play. 
Many  a  saintly  man,  full  of  religious  zeal,  had 
to  go  into  exile  because  he  would  not  give  up 
his  convictions  at  the  imperial  command,  and 
the  frequently  ill-advised  government  was  for 
a  long  time  in  hurtful  conflict  with  those 
religious  instincts  which  had  the  profoundest 
hold  on  Christian  truth. 

For   a   time,    too,    the  hand  of   the   Emperor 


30  The  Papacy- 


weighed  heavily  on  the  Roman  bishop ;  Liberius 
had  to  spend  several  years  (355-358)  in  far-oJ0F 
Thrace,  until  he  gave  way  and  signed  what 
was  laid  before  him.  That,  however,  is  but  an 
episode.  Enshrined  in  the  annals  of  history 
there  remains  the  decree  with  which,  after 
more  than  half  a  century  of  bitter  disputes,  the 
Emperor  Theodosius  ended  the  religious  con- 
troversy by  order  of  the  State,  the  decree  with 
which  Justinian  and  his  jurists  later  prefaced 
their  code  of  civil  law  and  in  the  opening  of 
which  we  read :  "  All  the  peoples  over  whom 
we  rule  with  mildness  and  clemency  must,  such 
is  our  will,  accept  the  religion  transmitted  by 
the  Divine  apostle  St.  Peter  to  the  Romans." 
Bishop  Damasus  of  Rome  and  Bishop  Peter 
of  Alexandria  are  named  as  the  authorities  on 
orthodox  doctrine.  The  Alexandrian  bishop 
had  soon  to  give  place  to  him  of  Constanti- 
nople, and  the  way  remained  clear  for  the 
bishop  of  Rome. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  men  of  power- 
ful personality  were  needed  to  achieve  such 
results  and  to  make  the  most  of  them.  Yet 
Sylvester  (314-335),  probably  the  best  known  of 
the  Roman  bishops  of  this  period,  was  not  so 
great  as  legend  has  made  him  out  to  be :  for 
it  is  not  true  that  he  baptized  the  Emperor 
Constantine,   and   the    so-called    "  Donation    of 


Two  Great  Popes  31 

Constantine "  *  is  a  forgery  of  the  eighth 
century,  when  it  was  important  to  impress  the 
Franks  and  the  Byzantines. 

A  much  more  important  part  was  played 
by  Julius  (341-352),  the  friend  and  protector  of 
Athanasius.  To  him,  as  successor  of  St.  Peter, 
the  Synod  of  Sardica  granted  the  right  of 
forming  a  Court  of  Revision  in  cases  where  a 
bishop,  summoned  before  the  court  of  his 
peers,  thought  himself  wronged  by  the  sen- 
tence. This  right,  it  is  true,  was  only  recog- 
nised at  first  to  a  limited  extent. 

One  of  the  few  non-Roman  occupants  of  the 
Apostolic  See  in  the  early  centuries  was  the 
Spaniard  Damasus  (366-384),  a  passionate  man 
who  made  his  way  to  the  episcopal  throne 
over  corpses.  He  had  the  ear  of  the  Emperor 
to  such  an  extent  that  he  was  able  to  make  the 
bold  request  that  the  Roman  bishop  might  in 
his  own  affairs  be  answerable  to  the  imperial 
jurisdiction  only.  He  was  also  the  originator 
of  the  translation  of  the  Bible  by  the  learned 
Jerome,  which,  as  the  Vulgate,  has  become 
the    standard    version    for    the    Church.      His 

*  By  the  terms  of  the  Donation  Constantine  gives  to 
Sylvester  and  his  successors  the  sovereignty  over  the  pro- 
vinces of  the  Western  Empne  and  imperial  dignities  and 
privileges.  Lest  the  secular  government  should  cramp  the 
freedom  of  the  spiritual,  he  removes  the  seat  of  the  Empire 
from  Rome  to  Constantinople.    (See  also  pages  53-4.)    (Trans.) 


32  The  Papacy 

successor,  Siricius  (384-398),  who  in  his  cir- 
cular letters  adopted  quite  the  attitude  of  the 
ecclesiastical  law-giver  towards  the  Spanish, 
the  African,  and  even  the  Gallic  bishops,  also 
deserves  special  mention. 

Nevertheless  the  Popes  were  only  able  to 
make  their  way  step  by  step,  and  often 
enough  at  a  wearisome  pace.  In  Italy  they 
had  to  contend  against  the  authority  of  the 
bishops  of  Milan,  Ravenna,  and  Aquileia,  who 
temporarily  checked  the  influence  of  Rome  in 
the  north  of  Italy  and  on  the  shores  of  the 
Adriatic.  The  African  bishops  still  had  some 
of  the  self-confidence  of  their  great  prede- 
cessor Cyprian,  and  in  the  south  of  Gaul 
many  a  hard  struggle  had  to  be  fought  before 
the  Roman  See  succeeded  in  gaining  that  recog- 
nition the  refusal  of  which  was  even  then 
considered  an  insult.  In  these  and  similar 
complications  Innocent  I.  (402-417)  in  par- 
ticular proved  himself  a  clear-sighted  exponent 
of  papal  policy.  He  is  the  greatest  forerunner 
of  the  first  great  Pope,  Leo  I.  (440-461). 

In  the  palace  of  the  Vatican,  Raphael  has 
portrayed  the  following  scene  :  Pope  Leo,  at 
the  head  of  an  Imperial  embassy,  advances  to 
meet  the  King  of  the  Huns,  who  threatens 
Rome.  In  the  sky  above  the  Pope  are 
St.    Peter    and   St.    Paul   with    drawn   swords. 


Two  Great  Popes  33 

Sober  consideration  brings  to  our  mind,  in- 
deed, other  motives  which  induced  Attila  to 
give  up  his  marauding  expedition ;  but  to  the 
people  Leo  was  their  saviour  from  the  Scourge 
of  God  ;  once  more,  after  many  centuries, 
"  pater  patriae,"  the  Father  of  the  Fatherland. 
And  he  actually  was  that.  What  mattered  it 
that  an  Emperor  reigned  beside  him  in  Rome? 
Valentinian  III.  was  completely  dependent  on 
the  Pope,  and  made  public  avowal  of  his 
dependence  in  the  following  decree  : — 

"Since  that  by  reason  of  the  merit  of  St. 
Peter,  who  is  chief  of  the  company  of  the 
bishops,  the  dignity  of  the  city  of  Rome  and 
the  decision  of  the  holy  Synod  [i.e.,  that  of 
Nicsea,  which  really  decided  nothing  of  the 
sort]  the  superiority  of  the  see  of  Rome  has 
been  established,  let  none  henceforward  dare 
to  question  the  authority  of  this  see  with 
presumptuous  claims  :  for  then  only  will  peace 
continue  throughout  the  Church  when  the 
bishop  of  Rome  is  recognised  by  all  as  Lord 
and  Master.  .  .  .  Henceforth  it  shall  not  be 
permitted  to  dispute  over  Church  matters  or 
to  oppose  the  orders  of  the  Primate  in  Rome. 
.  .  .  What  is  ordered  by  the  Apostolic  See,  by 
virtue  of  its  authority,  shall  be  law  to  all,  so 
that,  if  a  bishop  refuse  compliance  with  the 
judicial   sentence    of    the    Roman   Primate,   he 

3 


34  The  Papacy 


shall  be  compelled  by  the  provincial  govern- 
ment to  appear  before  him.  Thus  in  every 
respect  will  that  be  observed  which  our  august 
ancestors  have  granted  to  the  Roman  Church." 

This  decree  had  been  called  forth  by  the 
opposition  offered  to  the  Pope  by  the  Metro- 
politan of  Aries  in  the  south  of  Gaul,  who 
had  once  again  tried  to  vindicate  his  independ- 
ence of  ultramontane  control.  The  Emperor, 
whose  pen  had  been  guided  by  the  Pope,  even 
let  a  sentence  in  the  document  stand  to  the 
effect  that  the  papal  ordinances  by  which  the 
metropolitan  districts  in  Gaul  had  been  re- 
arranged had  not  needed  imperial  sanction  ;  and 
Leo  gave  the  Bishop  of  Aries  clearly  to  under- 
stand that  it  was  only  thanks  to  his  clemency 
that  he  remained  in  office.  The  Metropolitan 
of  Thessalonica  in  Illyria,  a  district  in  which, 
as  a  province  belonging  to  the  eastern  half  of 
the  Empire,  the  influence  of  Constantinople 
was  strong  and  decidedly  anti-Roman,  was 
informed  by  the  Pope  that  as  his  vicar  he  had 
a  share  in  the  duties  of  his  office,  but  not  in 
his  power. 

He  would  fain  have  adopted  the  same  tone 
towards  the  Eastern  Empire  itself;  but  here 
his  struggles  for  sovereignty  met  with  invin- 
cible obstacles.  In  the  Eastern  Churches  the 
unhappy  strife  over  the  mysteries  of  faith  had 


Two  Great  Popes  35 

not  yet  come  to  an  end.  This  strife  accorded 
well  both  with  the  theologians'  love  of  nice 
distinctions  and  with  the  temporal  ambitions 
of  the  chief  bishops,  who,  by  mutual  accusa- 
tions of  heresy,  made  life  a  burden  to  one 
another.  In  451  the  Emperor  convened  a  coun- 
cil at  Chalcedon,  in  order  that  some  decision 
might  be  arrived  at.  A  letter  from  Leo  to 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  served  as 
basis  for  this  decision.  In  it  the  Pope,  with- 
out entering  too  much  into  theological  difficul- 
ties, had  expounded  in  clear  language  the 
doctrine  of  the  intimate  union  of  the  Divine 
and  human  natures  in  the  one  Person  of 
Christ.  A  damper,  however,  was  immediately 
put  upon  the  Pope's  consciousness  of  triumph 
on  the  dogmatic  question.  To  his  great 
chagrin  the  council  perpetuated  with  a  solemn 
resolution  the  decision,  arrived  at  several  gene- 
rations earlier  in  a  synod  at  Constantinople, 
that  the  privileges  of  the  see  of  Old  Rome 
should  indeed  still  be  conceded  to  her  by  virtue 
of  her  position  as  imperial  city,  but  that 
the  see  of  New  Rome  should  enjoy  the  same 
privileges  for  the  same  reason,  and  should 
have  her  place  in  the  ecclesiastical  order  of 
rank  immediately  below  that  of  Old  Rome. 
In  vain  did  Leo  assert  that  there  was  a  differ- 
ence  between    temporal    and    spiritual    order, 


36  The  Papacy 

and  that  the  higher  rank  of  a  church  could 
only  be  founded  on  its  apostolic  origin.  The 
matter  remained  there,  at  least  as  regards  the 
Eastern  Churches,  which,  with  fewer  and  fewer 
exceptions,  rejected  every  interference  of  the 
Pope  in  their  affairs. 

And  yet  the  Pope  acted  wisely  when,  with 
inalterable  firmness,  he  based  his  primacy  over 
the  nations  on  the  Divine  promise,  quite 
apart  from  all  earthly  considerations.  Leo  did 
this  in  an  especially  emphatic  way  in  a 
sermon  preached  in  his  cathedral  on  the  Feast 
of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  June  29th.  Here 
we  read : — 

"  Truly  the  whole  world  has  a  share  in  all  holy 
feasts,  and  the  one  true  faith  demands  that  that 
which  was  done  for  the  salvation  of  all  shall 
everywhere  be  commemorated  amidst  common 
rejoicing.  But  to-day's  feast  must  be  celebrated 
with  special  and  peculiar  jubilation  in  this  our 
city.  Where  the  chief  of  the  apostles  so  glori- 
ously ended  their  lives,  there  also  must  the  day 
of  their  martyrdom  be  celebrated  with  special 
joy.  For  they  are  the  men  through  whom  thou, 
O  Rome,  didst  first  receive  the  light  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ.  Through  them  hast  thou,  who  wast 
the  teacher  of  error,  become  the  disciple  of  truth. 
They  are  thy  holy  fathers  and  true  shepherds, 
who  established    thee  much  better  and    more 


Two  Great  Popes  37 

happily  in  the  membership  of  the  heavenly 
kingdom  than  those  who  by  their  toil  laid  the 
first  foundation  of  thy  walls.  He  who  gave  thee 
thy  name  disgraced  thee  by  fratricide.  But  the 
apostles  have  so  magnified  thee  that,  because  of 
Peter's  Chair,  thou  art  become  the  holy  nation, 
the  chosen  people  [cf.  1  Peter  ii.  9],  the  priestly 
and  royal  city,  the  head  of  the  world,  and  that 
through  the  worship  of  God  thou  hast  attained 
a  wider  sway  than  thou  didst  of  old  through 
thy  worldly  power.  For  although  thou,  rich  in 
victories,  didst  extend  thy  rule  over  land  and 
sea,  yet  thy  toils  in  war  brought  less  under 
thy  yoke  than  the  Christian  faith  has  made 
tributary  to  thee." 

Rightly  indeed  has  admiring  posterity  given 
the  name  of  Great  to  Leo,  who,  in  a  time  of 
general  unsettlement,  inscribed  Roman  pride 
and  Christian  faith  upon  his  banner  with  a  trust 
in  God  that  promised  victory. 

The  successors  of  the  great  Pope  carried  on 
his  pretensions  readily  enough.  Did  not  Gel- 
asius  I.  (492-496)  compare  the  relation  of 
temporal  and  spiritual  power  to  that  of  the 
sun  and  moon  ?  As  the  moon  receives  her 
light  from  the  sun,  so  the  secular  kingdom 
receives  all  its  brilliancy  from  the  Papacy.  But 
power  was  lacking  to  give  weight  to  such  pre- 
tensions by  action.    In  the  history  of  the  Romap 


3  8  The  Papacy- 

See  we  shall  not  seldom  meet  with  such  pa- 
ralysis; but  we  shall  also  be  able  to  observe  that 
as  a  rule  it  is  connected  with  a  state  of  general 
unsettlement  and  transition.  The  century  after 
Leo  marked  the  golden  age  of  the  Eastern 
Empire,  the  culminating  point  of  which  was 
reached  in  the  person  of  the  mighty  Justinian 
(527-565),  who  stood  head  and  shoulders  above 
his  contemporaries,  in  spite  of  the  many 
shadows  that  mar  his  career.  The  West, 
however,  was  ruled  by  the  barbarians,  filled 
with  the  exuberance  of  youth,  who  shattered 
the  organism  of  the  Old  World,  but  were  as  yet 
without  the  wisdom  and  experience  necessary 
to  build  afresh  on  its  ruins ;  even  the  great 
East  Goth  Theodoric  did  not  succeed  in  pro- 
ducing anything  durable.  In  these  wholly 
changed  times  the  Popes  found  their  bearings 
but  slowly.  Byzantium  became  their  master. 
The  papal  authority  reached  its  lowest  point 
in  the  time  of  Vigilius  (537-555),  whom  Theo- 
dora, the  courtesan  on  the  imperial  throne,  put 
into  office.  His  subjection  to  Byzantium  cost 
him  the  hard-won  confidence  of  the  Western 
Churches.  At  a  time  when  the  weakness  of 
the  papal  government  was  so  notorious,  it 
makes  a  curious  impression  on  one  to  read  that 
Pope  Felix  II.  (483)  upbraided  his  rival  in  Con- 
stantinople, previous  to  excommunicating  him, 


Two  Great  Popes  39 

and  thus  beginning  a  schism  between  the  two 
Churches  that  lasted  for  thirty-five  years,  with 
the  words  of  Jesus  (Matt.  xii.  30  ;  Luke  xi.  23) : 
"  He  that  is  not  with  Me  is  against  Me  :  and  he 
that  gathereth  not  with  Me  scattereth." 

But  the  evil  times  pass.  The  attention  of 
the  Byzantines  becomes  fully  absorbed  by  the 
revolutions  in  the  East,  brought  about  first  by 
the  Persians  and  then  by  the  Arabs.  The 
German  barbarians  in  the  West  begin  to  yield 
to  the  influence  of  civilisation,  and  the  Church 
appears  to  them  more  and  more  as  the  power 
which  attends  the  destiny  of  nations  with  the 
blessing  of  God — a  power  before  which  they 
must  bow  the  knee.  But  at  the  head  of  the 
Church — so  thought  these  peoples — stood  the 
Pope  in  Rome,  who  seemed  to  embody  in  his 
person  everything  worthy  of  veneration  that 
the  Old  World  had  left  to  the  New.  Gregory 
the  Great  (590-604)  proved  that  they  had  not 
looked  to  Rome  in  vain. 

Historians  not  seldom  dispute  or  entirely 
deny  the  right  of  Gregory  I.  to  the  title  of 
"  Great."  However  unjust  that  may  be,  it  is 
easy  to  understand  that  there  should  be  some 
hesitation  in  according  to  Gregory  what  is 
universally  and  ungrudgingly  granted  to  Leo. 
Gregory  was  not  cast  in  the  imperious  mould 
of  his  great  predecessor.    It  is  hard  to  imagine 


40  The  Papacy- 

Leo  adopting  that  title  of  "servant  of  the 
servants  of  God,"  which  Gregory  in  proud 
humility  did  not  bear  for  show  only,  and  which 
all  the  Popes  bore  after  him,  even  when  they 
showed  no  trace  of  his  devout  spirit.  Gregory 
can  only  be  called  Great  because  of  his  impor- 
tance for  the  Church,  which  has  commemorated 
him  from  early  times  by  the  side  of  Ambrose, 
Jerome,  and  Augustine  as  one  of  her  four 
great  doctors. 

A  member  of  the  Gens  Anicia  and  therefore 
of  the  old  Roman  nobility,  to  which,  even  in 
the  time  of  the  Republic,  the  State  had  owed 
high  civil  officials  and  successful  commanders, 
Gregory  had  reached  in  his  worldly  career 
the  highly  honourable  position  of  "prsetor 
urbanus,"  when  he  suddenly  left  the  world  and 
joined  the  monks,  of  whom  there  were  great 
numbers  in  and  around  Rome  since  Benedict 
of  Nursia's  reorganisation  of  monastic  life  (in 
the  first  half  of  the  sixth  century).  He  spent 
some  fifteen  years  in  good  works,  until  the 
Pope  induced  him,  much  against  his  will,  to 
devote  himself  once  more  to  public  life,  this 
time  in  the  Church.  For  a  while  he  held  the 
difficult  and  responsible  office  of  papal  repre- 
sentative in  Constantinople.  After  the  death 
of  Pelagius  II.  he  was  raised  to  the  papal  chair 
by  the  wish  of  both  secular  and  ecclesiastical 
authorities. 


Two  Great  Popes  41 

That  he  had  not  spent  his  youth  as  an 
administrator  in  vain  was  seen  in  his  manage- 
ment of  the  property  of  the  Roman  Church. 
Even  at  that  time  it  was  a  matter  of  landed 
property,  of  which  the  extent  in  Italy  and  the 
neighbouring  islands,  on  the  coast  of  Dalmatia, 
in  the  south  of  Gaul  and  the  north  of  Africa 
may  be  estimated  at  thousands  of  square  miles, 
and  the  revenue  at  millions  of  pounds  in  our 
money.  Gregory  did  not  manage  this  "Patri- 
monium  Petri,"  this  heritage  of  St.  Peter, 
as  a  sovereign — that  right  belonged  to  the 
Byzantine  Emperor — but  as  a  skilful  adminis- 
trator, and,  by  his  attention  to  every  detail, 
he  laid  the  foundation  of  what  was  later  called 
the  States  of  the  Church  or  Papal  States.  But, 
well  as  he  understood  these  things,  his  soul  was 
not  tied  to  them.  In  his  heart  of  hearts  he  still 
remained  faithful  to  the  object  for  which  he  had 
formerly  renounced  the  pomps  and  vanities  of 
this  world — the  service  of  Christ  and  the  magni- 
fying of  His  name  among  men.  The  first  monk 
to  sit  in  Peter's  Chair,  he  used  for  missionary 
purposes  the  forces  set  free  by  Benedict.  His 
messengers  went  forth  to  England,  to  win  new 
countries  for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel, 
naturally  according  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
form,  which  they  and  their  chief  regarded  as 
the  only  one  that  could  bring  salvation.     Com- 


42  The  Papacy 


bining  religious  with  political  aims,  he  formed 
new  connexions  in  the  territory  of  the  Frankish 
kings,  renewed  old  ties  in  the  Spanish  Church, 
now  under  the  rule  of  the  West  Goths,  and 
peaceably  and  unostentatiously  strengthened 
on  all  sides  the  weakened  authority  of  his 
see. 

At  the  same  time  he  was  ever  mindful  of  his 
duty  to  his  Divine  Master.  He  was  the  suc- 
cessor of  that  apostle  who  had  been  commis- 
sioned to  feed  the  Christian  flock.  No  one  else 
had  received  such  a  commission,  least  of  all  the 
Bishop  of  Byzantium,  who  had  so  often  to 
sacrifice  his  duty  as  a  Christian  at  the  beck 
of  his  earthly  master.  It  seemed  to  the  Pope 
diabolical  presumption  on  the  part  of  this 
patriarch  that  he  should  allow  himself  to  be 
styled,  or,  according  to  Gregory,  should  style 
himself,  the  "ecumenical"  patriarch,  i.e.,  as 
Gregory,  perhaps  wrongly,  interpreted  it,  the 
universal  patriarch — in  short,  the  chief  patri- 
arch. His  protests  died  away  unheard  ;  there 
was  no  longer  any  inclination,  across  the  water, 
to  listen  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome. 

The  Church  gives  Gregory  the  title  of  Doctor, 
and  in  truth  he  had  a  peculiar  and  conclusive 
influence  in  the  province  of  doctrine,  in  that  he 
sifted  theological  tradition  for  the  West,  and 
completed  the  process  of  preserving  what  was 


Two  Great  Popes  43 

of  practical  use  to  the  Church,  and  of  blunting 
the  edge  of  what  was  dangerous.  Gregory  was 
only  able  to  follow  from  afar  the  bold  flight 
of  thought  of  Augustine  (d.  430),  whom  he 
honoured  as  his  master  ;  but  the  giant  stature 
of  the  great  African  bishop  reached  far  beyond 
ordinary  human  standards,  and  the  Church 
could  but  be  thankful  to  have  in  Gregory  one 
who  extended  the  "  Civitas  Dei "  even  in  these 
matters.  To  say  that  the  Pope  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth  was  a 
materialisation  of  the  thought  of  Augustine, 
but  it  accorded  with  actual  facts.  With  this 
was  also  naturally  bound  up  an  increase  of  the 
importance  of  the  Roman  Church,  represented 
by  the  Pope,  as  the  highest  authority  on  doctrine. 
Augustine,  indeed,  never  stated  as  a  principle 
that  "  when  Rome  has  spoken,  the  matter  is 
at  an  end "  ("  Roma  locuta,  causa  finita "), 
but  certain  expressions  of  his  could  be  so 
interpreted. 

If  we  add  to  all  this  Gregory's  services  as 
regards  the  instruction  of  the  clergy,  the  further- 
ance of  Church  life,  the  development  of  public 
worship,  and,  last  but  not  least,  Church  music,  we 
have  grounds  enough  to  pronounce  one-sided  the 
opinion  of  Mommsen  that  he  was  only  a  "  very 
little  great  man."  Gregory  stands  at  the  parting 
of  the  ways,  everything  of  value  that  had  been 


44  The  Papacy- 

evolved  by  the  early  Catholic  Church  goes  over 
with  him  as  a  recognised  inheritance  to  the  New 
World  of  the  Germanic  and  Romance  peoples, 
for  whom  it  is  reserved  to  utilise  the  treasure 
in  all  directions. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  COMPACT  WITH  THE  FEANKS 

THE  connexion  with  the  Eastern  Empire 
was  becoming  looser  and  looser.  Under 
the  sway  of  the  Lombards  imperial  influence 
in  Italy  had  weakened  from  decade  to  decade 
— not  without  the  assistance  of  the  Popes — 
and  the  military  stations  had  become  fewer 
and  fewer.  Pope  Martin  I.  could  venture  to 
incense  his  sovereign  by  ignoring  the  im- 
perial right  of  confirming  his  election.  It 
must  be  added  that  the  Emperor,  through 
his  Exarch,  soon  seized  the  opportunity  of 
abducting  the  offender  in  the  middle  of  the 
night  from  the  church  of  St.  John  Lateran, 
and  had  him  conveyed  to  Constantinople  and 
thence  to  the  Black  Sea,  where  he  suffered  a 
painful  death  (655).  The  Popes  of  the  seventh 
century  were  not  always  happy  in  their  hand- 
ling of  Church  matters.  One  of  them,  Hono- 
rius    I.    (625-638),    was   even    laid    under   the 

45 


4^  The  Papacy 

ban  of  the  Church  as  a  heretic,  after  his 
death,  by  a  general  council  at  Constantinople 
(681),  because,  contrary  to  the  custom  of  the 
Roman  See,  he  had  gone  too  far  on  a  question 
of  doctrine  which  had  stirred  up  much  feeling, 
and  had  decided  before  there  was  anything 
to  decide.  This  is  the  oft-quoted  show  case 
for  papal  non-infallibility,  which  on  closer 
examination  proves  to  be  merely  a  harmless 
interlude. 

Separation  from  Byzantium  had  become  a 
vital  question,  but  there  was  no  hope  of 
effecting  it  successfully  as  long  as  definite 
support  was  lacking.  From  the  Lombards,  al- 
though they  had  recently  turned  from  Arianism 
to  Catholicism,  there  was  but  little  to  be 
expected,  since  the  important  sees  of  Milan 
and  Aquileia,  which  since  the  time  of  Vigilius 
had  again  become  keen  rivals  of  Rome, 
were  on  friendly  terms  with  the  German 
conquerors,  who  on  their  side  continually 
coveted  the  Patrimony  of  St.  Peter.  Rome 
began  then  to  look  for  help  to  the  Prankish 
kingdom,  where  she  had  had  faithful  adherents 
since  the  time  of  Gregory.  An  opportunity  of 
testing  this  fidelity  soon  occurred. 

Byzantium  had  once  more  become  the  scene 
of  fierce  ecclesiastical  controversies.  The  Em- 
peror   Leo     III.,    the    Isaurian,    had     roughly 


The  Compact  with  the  Franks    47 

interfered  with  the  religious  life  of  numbers  of 
bigoted  souls  by  forbidding  image  worship  (726), 
which  in  the  Eastern  Church  had  assumed  the 
character  of  idolatry  far  more  than  in  the 
West.  Apart  from  this  debasement  of  worship, 
the  veneration  of  images,  as  such,  was  un- 
doubtedly of  vital  interest  to  the  whole  Church  ; 
and  we  can  understand  that  Pope  Gregory  II. 
(714-731)  could  not  keep  silence  in  face  of  the 
hostile  measures  of  the  Isaurian.  But  the 
tone  which  he  adopts  in  writing  to  the 
Emperor  sounds  strange  to  our  ears.  It  is 
no  longer  the  subject  speaking  to  his  sovereign, 
but  an  ecclesiastical  prince  conscious  of  his 
power,  who  does  not  fear  the  authority  of 
the  Emperor,  and  who  is  working  towards  a 
breach.  He  censures  Leo  for  meddling  with 
the  dogmas  of  the  Church  and  for  attempting 
to  unite  in  his  person  the  king  and  the  priest. 
He  calls  the  Emperor  a  simpleton,  a  fool,  at 
whose  head  the  school-children,  who  have 
more  sense  than  he,  would  throw  their  tablets. 
Leo  ordered  his  arrest,  and  the  fate  of  Martin 
threatened  him ;  but  the  troops  refused  to 
obey  orders.  Shortly  afterwards  the  Pope 
died.  His  successor,  another  Gregory  (731-741), 
found  himself  in  a  position  of  exceptional  diffi- 
culty. The  Lombard  Liutprand  was  threatening 
Rome,  and  he  hourly  expected  to  see   the  city 


48  The  Papacy- 

attacked.  In  these  circumstances  he  considered 
it  advisable  to  show  his  good-will  by  seeking 
— this  is  the  last  instance  of  the  practice — 
conJBrmation  of  his  election  from  the  Emperor. 
But  in  the  very  year  of  his  accession  he  made, 
at  a  Synod  in  Rome,  a  pronouncement  in 
which  Leo  could  not  fail  to  see  an  unmistakable 
declaration  of  war,  to  the  effect  that  whoso- 
ever henceforth,  contrary  to  the  custom  of 
the  Primitive  Church,  removed,  destroyed, 
desecrated  or  reviled  the  holy  images,  was  to 
be  cut  off  from  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ 
and  from  the  fellowship  of  the  one  true 
Church.  The  breach  became  a  fact,  and  the 
Pope  owed  it  only  to  a  combination  of  for- 
tunate circumstances  that  the  military  demon- 
stration immediately  set  on  foot  by  the 
Emperor  came  to  nothing. 

He  could  indeed  have  obtained  help  from 
Liutprand.  But  then  the  Lombard  would  have 
become  the  Pope's  master,  and  his  rule  would 
have  been  even  heavier  than  that  of  the 
Emperor,  away  in  Constantinople.  In  this 
emergency  Gregory  III.  took  a  step  which, 
though  for  the  moment  it  was  without  result, 
became  later  of  great  importance  for  the 
world's  history.  He  turned  to  Charles  Martel. 
He  sent  to  the  Frank  the  consecrated  keys 
of    St.    Peter's    tomb,   and   entreated   him,    as 


The  Compact  with  the  Franks     49 

he  would  be  saved,  to  come  and  help  him. 
Charles  did  not  come ;  it  was  not  to  his 
interest  to  engage  in  a  struggle  with  Liutprand, 
who  had  just  done  him  good  service  against 
the  Arabs.  But  the  ice  was  broken,  and  a 
few  years  later  there  came  to  pass  what 
Gregory  III.  had  in  vain  tried  to  accomplish. 

For  about  a  century  the  power  of  the 
Merovingian  kings  had  been  slowly  decaying. 
Taking  advantage  of  this  fact,  the  mayors  of 
the  palace  seized  upon  the  reins  of  government. 
Charles  Martel,  i.e.,  the  Hammer,  routed  the 
Arabs  (in  732),  but  he  also  managed  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  kingdom.  The  bishops 
having  allowed  themselves  to  be  drawn  into 
the  quarrels  of  the  nobles,  the  Frankish  Church 
had  fallen  into  a  state  of  wild  confusion. 
Charles  Martel  did  not  exactly  treat  her  with 
tenderness.  He  has  been  much  blamed  for 
seizing  a  large  part  of  the  property  of  the 
cathedral  churches,  which  pious  gifts  had 
swelled  to  immense  proportions,  in  order  to 
obtain  a  sufficiently  large  body  of  cavalry 
against  the  Arabs.  At  the  same  time  there 
was  really  no  question  of  ill-will  towards  the 
Church  and  her  spiritual  mission,  for  Charles 
showed  that  he  could  appreciate  the  latter 
by  his  behaviour  to  Boniface,  whose  missionary 
and  organising  efforts  in  Hesse,  Thuringia,  and 

4 


50  The  Papacy 

Bavaria  he  took  under  his  powerful  protection. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  was  just  the  activity  of 
Boniface  which  made  Charles  and  his  suc- 
cessors realise  the  importance  of  a  firmly 
united  Church,  fostering  the  gentler  instincts 
of  the  masses.  That  this  organisation,  also  as 
the  result  of  Boniface's  activity,  was  closely 
linked  to  Rome  did  not  trouble  them,  since 
they  looked  upon  their  sovereignty  over 
the  Church  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  had 
no  reason  to  fear  ultramontane  influence.  They 
could  appreciate  and  utilise  the  moral  power 
of  Rome. 

When,  in  751,  Pepin,  the  son  of  Charles 
Martel,  deposed  the  Merovingian  King  Childeric, 
it  was  of  the  greatest  importance  to  him  to 
have  the  blemish  of  illegality,  which  might 
attach  to  his  crown,  removed.  The  mere 
acclamations  of  his  Franks  could  not  effect  this 
— supernatural  confirmation  was  necessary. 
This  confirmation  he  found  in  the  decision  of 
the  Church,  which  stood  in  God's  stead  on 
earth.  He  therefore  put  this  question  to  the 
Pope  :  "  Is  it  right,  or  not,  that  the  kings  of 
the  Franks  should  not  possess  the  royal 
authority?"  "No,"  answered  Pope  Zacharias 
(741-752),  "it  is  not  right."  Now  the  crown 
was  free  of  stain.  "By  the  grace  of  God" 
("  Dei  gratia ")  Pepin  styled  himself.     Here  for 


The  Compact  with  the  Franks     51 

the  first  time  these  words  are  used  in  connexion 
with  a  king's  crown ;  hitherto  it  was  only  the 
bishops  who  had  been  "  by  the  grace  of  God," 
and  since  the  time  of  Israel  and  Judah  no 
ruler's  head  had  been  touched  with  the  anoint- 
ing oil.  Boniface,  the  Pope's  legate,  anointed 
the  King  of  the  Franks. 

Perhaps  the  matter  would  have  ended  there 
if,  at  the  same  time,  the  papal  throne  had 
not  fallen  into  sore  straits.  The  Lombard 
Aistulf  occupied  Ravenna  and  demanded  tribute 
from  Rome.  Thereupon  Stephen  III.  decided 
to  appeal  once  more  to  the  Franks.  He  crossed 
the  Alps  in  winter  time  and  appeared  at  the 
King's  residence  in  Ponthieu,  begging  for 
protection.  The  pious  Pepin  paid  him  the 
honours  which  he  deemed  due  to  the  successor 
of  St.  Peter,  and  himself  led  the  Pope's  palfrey. 
But  he  did  more :  he  assured  him  of  his 
protection,  and  promised,  if  he  were  victorious, 
to  ensure  his  safety  by  putting  at  his  dis- 
disposal  the  territory  won  from  the  Lombards, 
while  he  himself  took  the  title  of  Patrician 
of  Rome  and  therewith  the  position  of  protector 
to  the  Pope.  By  way  of  thanks  Stephen 
anointed  him  again.  Pepin  kept  his  word, 
and  after  a  short  war  overthrew  his  opponent. 
To  the  imperial  envoys  who  came  to  demand 
the    restoration   of  the   land   to   the    Emperor 


52  The  Papacy- 


he  answered  that  it  was  for  love  of  St.  Peter 
and  to  obtain  forgiveness  of  his  sins,  not  to 
please  men,  that  he  had  undertaken  the  war 
against  the  Lombard  chief,  with  whom,  it 
may  be  mentioned,  he  had — unlike  his  father 
— not  been  on  friendly  terms. 

Upon  the  alliance  thus  formed  between  the 
Frankish  king  and  the  Pope  hung  all  the 
future.  Everything  depended  on  the  mutual 
relations  of  the  two  powers.  Pepin  had  given 
the  Pope  territory  that  legally  belonged  to 
the  Emperor,  and  it  had  thereby  become  clear 
to  all  that  the  union  with  the  East  was  finally 
at  an  end.  But  that  the  Pope  was  now  a 
sovereign  equal  with  himself  did  not  occur 
to  the  Frank,  although  he  allowed  him  to 
do  as  he  pleased  within  the  boundaries  of 
what  we  may  henceforth  rightly  term  the 
"Papal  States."  The  Pope  knew  this.  At 
the  same  time  the  advantages  which  accrued 
to  the  Roman  See  at  this  turning-point  in 
the  history  of  the  world  were  very  great. 
The  price  paid  for  the  removal  of  the  Lombard 
peril  cannot  indeed  be  called  too  high  when 
we  reflect  that  the  papal  policy,  built  upon  a 
single,  unalterable,  firmly-rooted  idea,  has 
always  been,  and  has  remained,  as  independent 
of  the  men  who  have  embodied  it  as  the 
policy  of  temporal  states   has   been  dependent 


The  Compact  with  the  Franks     53 

on  politicians.  Rome  cguld  wait^  With  strong 
personalities  like  Pepin  and  his  great  son, 
caution  was  necessary.  But  a  time  was 
coming  when  it  would  be  possible  for  the 
Pope  to  act  otherwise,  supported  by  the 
enormous  influence  which  as  shepherd  of  souls 
he  exercised  over  the  mind  of   Christendom. 

For  the  rest,  there  was  no  shrinking  from 
very  worldly  means  of  increasing  this  influence. 
The  papal  chancery,  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighth  century,  suffered  from  no  excess  of 
conscientiousness.  That,  at  the  moment  of 
Rome's  greatest  need,  advantage  was  taken 
of  "the  days  of  darkness  in  the  land  of  the 
Franks" — in  Bollinger's  phrase — to  fabricate  a 
letter  in  which  St.  Peter  besought  the  kings 
of  the  Franks,  his  adopted  sons,  to  rescue 
his  city  of  Rome,  appears  to  us  as  harmless 
as  the  superstition  of  its  recipients,  who  seem 
to  have  been  impressed  by  it.  More  serious 
was  the  "  Donation  of  Constantine,"  by  means 
of  which  an  attempt  was  made  to  render  that 
of  Pepin  unnecessary.  It  was,  indeed,  an 
extraordinarily  bold  proceeding  to  fabricate 
a  deed  purporting  to  show  that  the  Emperor 
Constantine  had  made  over  to  Pope  Sylvester 
his  imperial  palace,  the  city  of  Rome,  and  the 
temporal  dominion  of  the  West,  as  well  as 
the    ecclesiastical  supremacy  over   the   Eastern 


54,  The  Papacy 

patriarchates,  together  with  many  other  privi- 
leges and  titles.  By  this  document  Rome  hoped 
to  put  her  pretensions  on  a  solid  foundation, 
unassailable  by  either  the  Franks  or  the 
Byzantines,  but  more  especially,  perhaps,  the 
latter.  In  the  West  at  least,  the  forgery 
attained  its  object,  though  the  actual  course 
of  events  was  hardly  ever  influenced  by  it. 

Shortly  after,  the  Papacy  had  to  play  the 
part  of  the  moon  beside  the  sun  which  rose 
upon  the  Western  world  in  the  person  of  Charle- 
magne (768-814).  The  "peaceful  tyrant,"  as 
Gustav  Freytag  calls  him,  had  already  pursued 
his  beneficent  course  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  and  had  strengthened  his  position  both 
within  and  without  his  kingdom  by  gaining 
the  confidence  of  his  subjects,  when  he  found 
himself  confronted  by  the  highest  task  that 
could  fall  to  the  lot  of  a  ruler — to  renew 
in  his  own  person  the  old  Roman  imperial 
dignity.  This  task,  moreover,  was  set  him  by 
the  Pope.  The  coronation  of  Charles  as 
Emperor  is  an  event  that  has  caused  much 
discussion  up  to  the  present  day  as  regards 
cause  and  effect.  One  thing  only  is  certain, 
that  the  suggestion  did  not  come  from  the 
King.  But  that  he  knew  nothing  about  it  is, 
on  the  face  of  it,  really  too  improbable.  He 
certainly    could    not    have    produced    off-hand 


The  Compact  with  the  Franks     55 

the  rich  gifts  which  he  distributed  in  St.  Peter's 
immediately  after  the  ceremony.  He  had  his 
followers  with  him  in  Italy,  and  they  at  least 
knew  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  solemnly 
setting  the  seal  to  the  separation  between 
East  and  West  which  had  long  existed  in  fact. 
The  Pope,  on  his  side,  had  every  reason  not 
to  refuse  his  co-operation  in  the  spectacle, 
and  it  says  much  for  his  diplomatic  skill  that 
he  succeeded  in  playing  the  chief  part.  For  the 
rest,  Leo  III.  (795-816),  the  successor  of  Hadrian 
I.  (772-795),  who  was  a  personal  friend  of 
Charles,  was  a  man  of  inferior  character.  Even 
though  the  oath,  with  which  two  days  before 
the  coronation,  in  the  presence  of  the  King, 
the  Pope  had  to  clear  himself  from  a  charge 
of  grave  offences  against  morality,  does  not 
appear  to  merit  the  doubt  so  constantly  thrown 
upon  it,  he  still  remains  too  worldly  and 
unspiritual  for  us  to  resist  the  impression 
that  in  this  case,  at  any  rate,  an  event  of 
world-wide  importance  was  brought  about  by 
a  man  unworthy  of  the  task. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  coronation  did  not 
in  reality  come  up  to  the  epic  greatness  attri- 
buted to  it  in  contemporary  accounts ;  that  it 
created  no  new  relations  and  brought  no  new 
forces  into  play.  "It  accomplished  nothing,  it 
was  but  a  sign."     We  may,  however,    well  ask 


56  The  Papacy 

whether  history  does  not  need  such  signs,  and 
whether,  as  there  have  been  men  who  drew  on 
the  past  for  the  benefit  of  the  future  without 
giving  the  world  anything  really  new,  there 
are  not  also  events  which  continue  to  shine 
like  beacons  in  the  memory  of  men  even  if  the 
source  of  their  light  has  long  been  extinguished. 
Karl  Hase  grasped  this  when  he  wrote :  "  By 
his  coronation  Charlemagne  gained  nothing  in 
men  or  land  that  he  did  not  already  possess, 
but  the  idea  of  a  spiritual  God-given  empire 
of  the  world — an  idea  which  had  been  developing 
since  the  days  of  the  heathen  Augustus  and  the 
Christian  Constantine — descended  upon  him,  and 
remained  through  the  centuries  a  power  in  the 
minds  of  nations,  whenever  it  rested  upon  a 
ruler  who  was  great  enough  to  understand  it." 
It  has  also  been  said  that  this  Kingdom  of 
God  under  two  monarchs,  the  one  a  warrior, 
the  other  a  priest,  was,  to  say  the  least,  a  mis- 
fortune for  the  German  people.  There  is  a 
great  deal  of  truth  in  this.  The  connexion 
with  the  imperial  throne  and  the  journeys  of 
the  Emperors  to  Italy  for  coronation  brought 
much  misery  to  Germany ;  and  from  the  dis- 
sensions between  Pope  and  Emperor  there 
came  later  much  distress  to  the  Empire  and 
to  its  Church.  But  this  view,  again,  does  not 
take  times    and   persons   sufficiently  into   con- 


The  Compact  with  the  Franks     57 

sideration.  For  Charlemagne,  the  Pope  remained 
what  he  had  been  before.  He  took  it  as 
much  for  granted  as  did  his  father  before  him 
that  he,  the  King-Emperor,  was  also  the 
"Rector"  of  the  Church.  Had  he  not  sat  in 
judgment  on  the  Pope  as  on  any  other  bishop 
in  the  Empire,  without  any  one  taking  excep- 
tion ?  That  later  '*  the  Roman  gang,"  as  Luther 
complained,  "  would  assert  and  loudly  proclaim 
that  the  Pope  had  taken  the  holy  Roman  Empire 
from  the  Greek  Emperor  and  had  given  it  to 
the  Germans,  for  which  honour  and  favour  he 
justly  deserved  and  required  submission,  thanks, 
and  every  service  at  the  hands  of  the  Germans  " 
lay  beyond  all  calculation  at  that  time ;  and 
the  claim  is  based  upon  a  historical  fiction. 

But  in  every  historical  fiction  there  is  a  grain 
of  truth  to  be  found.  At  the  coronation  at 
the  imperial  Diet  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  813, 
Charlemagne  bade  his  son  Louis  take  the  crown 
from  the  altar  himself ;  thereby  revealing  clearly 
enough  his  conception  of  the  imperial  office.  In 
871,  his  great-grandson,  Louis  II.,  appealed  to  his 
Divine  right  of  office  against  the  Greek  Emperor, 
arguing  that  he  had  been  anointed  Emperor  by 
the  Pope,  as  in  former  times  David  had  been 
anointed  king  by  Samuel  after  the  rejection 
of  Saul.  What  had  happened  to  produce  such 
a  change  of  ideas  ? 


CHAPTER  V 


STORMY   TIMES 


THE  last  of  the  great  German  kings  sank 
into  the  grave.  Charlemagne  had  ruled 
the  Empire  he  had  created  with  a  strong  arm, 
but  after  his  death  centrifugal  forces  became 
active.  Louis  the  Pious  or,  as  the  French  more 
aptly  call  him,  Louis  the  Debonair,  who  could 
not  control  his  own  sons,  was  not  the  man  to 
extend  the  Empire.  A  clerical  party  began  to 
form  itself  among  the  nobility  both  ecclesias- 
tical and  secular,  a  party  which  no  longer 
looked  to  the  Court  as  its  source  of  inspiration, 
but  rather  across  the  Alps  to  Rome. 

Meanwhile  events  had  not  stood  still  in 
Rome.  There  were  increasing  indications  that 
an  independent  papal  policy  once  again  existed, 
and  that  the  Pope  no  longer  felt  the  weight  of 
a  strong  ruler's  hand.  The  pontificate  of  Leo  IV. 
(847-855)  is  important  because  he  gained  the 
goodwill    of    the    Romans    by   building  fortifi- 

58 


Stormy  Times  59 

cations  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber  and  by 
circumvallating  the  quarter  round  St.  Peter's, 
called  after  him  the  "  Leonine  City."  These 
prudent  measures  obviated  a  repetition  of  the 
state  of  panic  produced  in  the  city  not  long 
before  by  the  approach  of  a  fleet  of  Saracen 
pirates.  An  increase  of  self-assertion  is  also 
shown  by  the  fact  that  Leo  was  the  first  to 
use  in  his  documents  the  papal  reckoning  of 
years  beside  the  imperial  reckoning. 

Leo  prepared  the  way  for  Nicholas  I.  (858-867) 
from  whom  posterity  has  unjustly  withheld 
the  title  of  Great.  He  was  the  first  Pope  to  be 
crowned,  as  far  as  we  know.  If  Richard  Rothe 
saw  in  Louis  the  Pious  the  "  startled  con- 
science" of  his  age,  we,  with  even  greater 
justice,  may  call  Nicholas  the  rebuking  and 
judging  conscience  of  his  time.  When  the 
Emperor  Charles  the  Bald  complained  of  the 
tone  which  the  Pope  found  good  to  adopt, 
Nicholas  declared  that,  even  if  his  rebuke  were 
for  once  unmerited,  the  King  must  submit  to 
it  patiently,  as  Job  submitted  to  the  chastise- 
ment of  God ;  it  would  then  have  an  inner 
healing  power.  And  the  Emperor  wrote  to 
him :  "  We  are  ever  ready  to  obey  the  com- 
mands of  Your  Holiness."  The  state  of  affairs 
in  the  different  kingdoms  of  the  Carolingian 
Empire    was    favourable    to    such  pretensions. 


6o  The  Papacy 

When  Nicholas,  in  face  of  the  wretched  Lothair 
of  Lorraine,  who  was  alarmed  at  his  own  im- 
morality, maintained  that  a  tyrant  was  not 
worthy  of  the  name  of  ruler,  he  had  the  best 
men  on  his  side.  If  we  honour  Charlemagne 
as  the  moral  force  of  his  time,  we  must  admit 
that  Nicholas  stepped  into  his  place.  "Feed 
My  sheep,"  the  Lord  had  said  to  Peter  ;  Nicholas 
was  possessed  by  this  great  task  ;  but  instead 
of  the  shepherd's  crook,  he  took  the  whip  and 
the  scorpion  in  his  hand.  Abbot  Regino  of 
Priim  in  the  Eifel,  a  serious  observer,  wrote 
after  the  Pope's  death :  "  Since  Gregory  (the 
Great)  of  blessed  memory,  there  has  been  no 
Pontiff  like  him.  He  issued  his  commands  to 
kings  and  tyrants  as  if  he  were  lord  of  the 
whole  earth.  To  the  bishops  and  priests  who 
walked  blameless  after  God's  commandments 
he  showed  himself  a  mild  and  gracious  ruler, 
but  to  those  who  turned  from  the  right  way 
he  appeared  hard  and  terrible,  so  that  it  might 
truly  be  said  that  in  our  day  there  was  arisen 
a  new  Elias  in  spirit  and  in  power  if  not  in 
the  flesh." 

All,  indeed,  were  not  inclined  to  agree  with 
this  opinion,  least  of  all  the  greater  archbishops. 
Not  only  to  the  guilty  consciences  of  the  Bishops 
of  Cologne  and  Treves,  the  shield-bearers  of 
Lothair,    was    it    insupportable    that    Nicholas 


Stormy  Times  6i 


should  "set  himself  up  as  the  lord  of  all  the 
earth."  A  man  so  far  above  his  contemporaries 
in  intellect  as  Hincmar,  Archbishop  of  Rheims, 
was  also  of  the  number  of  the  Pope's  passionate 
opponents,  although  he  stood  by  him  in  the 
dispute  with  Lothair.  But  this  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  when  we  remember  that  Hincmar 
was  himself  cut  out  for  a  Pope  and  was  re- 
lentless in  asserting  his  superiority  over  the 
Prankish  bishops.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
bishops  had  for  many  years  already  been  in- 
clined to  seek  support  from  the  Pope  against 
the  increasingly  autocratic  rule  of  their  metro- 
politans. They  thought  also  that  in  him  they 
would  find  the  surest  protection  against  the 
encroachments  of  the  temporal  power.  It  did 
not  occur  to  them  that  if  the  Pope's  arm  was 
remote  it  could  also  reach  far. 

From  this  point  of  view  we  can  understand 
the  great  forgery  which,  since  it  has  been  recog- 
nised as  such,  is  usually  called  the  collection  of 
the  Pseudo-Isidorian  Decretals.  It  was  nothing 
less  than  an  attempt  made  in  the  West  Prankish 
Church,  about  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century, 
to  effect  a  complete  transformation  of  the  canon 
law,  not  by  a  systematic  exposition  but  in  such 
a  way  that  the  innovations  appeared  in  the 
shape  of  forged  papal  circular  letters  (decretals), 
dating  from  the  time  of  Clement  I.  to  that  of 


62  The  Papacy- 

Gregory  II.*  Rome  had  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  the  forgery.  But  when  Nicholas  heard 
of  the  Decretals,  being  like  all  despots  but  little 
scrupulous  as  to  ways  and  means,  he  seized 
at  once  upon  them  and  profited  to  the  full  by 
the  immense  advantages  they  offered  him.  It 
is  true  that  when  there  was  question  of  a  judg- 
ment in  a  lawsuit,  in  which  one  of  Hincmar's 
bishops  had  appealed  against  him  to  the  Pope, 
on  the  strength  of  the  Decretals,  Hincmar  ob- 
jected that  the  canon  law  knew  nothing  of 
these  letters ;  but  Nicholas  had  his .  answer 
ready :  "  The  Decretals  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs 
are  to  be  obeyed,  even  if  they  are  not  to  be 
found  in  the  canon  law."  He  boldly  asserted 
that  these  decrees  had  been  preserved  in  the 
archives  of  the  Roman  Church  from  early 
times.     He   curtly  declared   Hincmar  guilty  of 

*  The  purport  of  the  decretals  was  to  render  the  priesthood 
immune  from  secular  control,  and  to  exalt  the  Papacy.  In- 
fringements of  the  rights  of  the  clergy  were  declared  to  be  sins 
against  God's  ordinance.  Ecclesiastical  causes  were  not  to  be 
judged  by  lay  courts ;  and  laymen  might  not  appear  as  wit- 
nesses, or  as  accusers  of  the  clergy.  The  validity  of  the  official 
acts  and  words  of  the  clergy  was  asserted  to  depend  in  no  way 
on  their  personal  character.  The  Pope  was  set  forth  as  the 
fountain  of  ecclesiastical  authority  and  justice.  No  secular 
power  might  call  a  council  without  his  consent.  No  bishop 
might  be  tried  by  his  metropolitan  only,  but  by  a  provincial 
synod  summoned  by  the  Holy  See.  To  the  Pope  every  in- 
ferior might  appeal,  and  no  verdict  was  final  without  his 
sanction.     (Tkans.) 


Stormy  Times  63 

disobedience  if  he  did  not  accept  his  decision, 
and  threatened  to  depose  him  in  case  of  refusal. 

Nicholas  had  perhaps  strung  the  bow  too 
tightly;  in  any  case,  like  his  great  predecessor 
in  the  fifth  century,  he  had  no  successor  who 
could  keep  it  at  the  same  tension.  But  the 
scenes  which  history,  the  great  enchantress, 
next  brings  before  us  are  so  absolutely  different 
that  we  might  well  imagine  ourselves  in  another 
world.  About  the  year  900  general  ruin  threat- 
ened the  Christian  civilisation  of  Western 
Europe ;  Normans,  Slavs,  Magyars,  and  Arabs 
were  all  pressing  forward,  and  the  Empire  of 
Charlemagne  was  bleeding  to  death  in  civil  and 
foreign  wars.  The  Papacy  also  fell  from  its 
lofty  position  into  the  gulf  of  turbulence  and 
confusion.  The  revolutions  in  Rome  and  Italy 
which  bore  now  one,  now  another,  warrior- 
prince  on  to  the  crest  of  the  wave,  swept  the 
Papacy  along  also.  German  influence  was  a 
thing  of  the  past.  Pope  Formosus  (891-896), 
who  had  helped  Arnulf  of  Carinthia  to  win  the 
imperial  crown,  had  to  pay  for  this  treasonable 
act  after  his  death.  His  successor  caused  his 
body  to  be  exhumed,  sentenced  by  a  synod, 
and  thrown  naked  into  the  Tiber,  after  the 
finger  used  in  blessing  had  been  cut  off. 

This  terrible  deed  introduces  the  period  in 
the   history  of  the   Papacy  which   is  generally 


64  The  Papacy 

stigmatised  as  a  pornocracy,  or  reign  of 
harlots.  And  certainly  Theodora,  who  took  the 
name  of  Senatrix,  and  her  daughters  Theodora 
the  younger  and  Marozia,  paid  little  heed  to 
morality.  If,  however,  one  takes  up  the  position 
— a  very  unspiritual  one,  it  must  be  admitted — 
that  in  men  and  women  of  supreme  force  of  will 
looseness  of  morals  is  almost  inevitable,  one 
will  rather  be  inclined  to  wonder  at  the  magni- 
ficent audacity  with  which  these  highly  gifted 
women  used  their  great  attractions  to  exploit 
the  Roman  nobles  and  even  to  bring  Popes  to 
their  feet.  Pope  John  XI.  (931-936)  was  the 
son  of  Marozia,  and  her  grandson  Octavian, 
the  son  of  the  Margrave  Alberic  II. — who 
as  "Patrician,  Senator,  and  Grand  Consul  of 
Rome"  ruled  the  State,  and,  the  Popes  being 
ineffective,  the  Church  also,  for  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century — ascended  the  papal  throne  in 
956  as  John  XII. — the  first  Pope,  by  the  way, 
who  changed  his  name. 

During  the  whole  of  this  time  the  imperial 
rights  had  been  in  abeyance.  For  their  restora- 
tion the  first  thing  needed  was  the  clearing 
away  of  the  debris  of  the  Carolingian  regime 
and  the  laying  of  new  foundations  for  the  work 
of  reconstruction.  Henry,  the  castle-builder,  hati 
no  time  to  cross  the  Alps.  His  great  son,  Otto  I. 
(936-973),  was  the  first  to  take  up  again  the 


Stormy  Times  65 

work  of  the  first  Emperor,  but  in  a  different 
way.  He  was  a  man  of  much  prayer,  and  saw 
things  in  a  supernatural  light,  to  which  Charle- 
magne, with  his  clear,  practical  vision,  had  not 
been  susceptible.  We  may  quite  correctly  speak 
of  the  "Holy  Roman  Empire  of  the  German 
nation  "  that  he  established.  The  writers  of  the 
period,  who  paint  the  atrocities  at  Rome  in  the 
darkest  colours,  saw  in  Otto  one  who  fulfilled 
a  divine  mission,  and  he  himself  felt  that  he 
was  in  some  measure  the  representative  of  God. 
If  only  for  this  reason,  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  permit  any  infringement  of  the  supre- 
macy of  the  Emperor  when  order  was  being 
restored  in  Rome.  It  is  true  that,  before  his 
coronation,  he  assured  the  Pope  on  oath  that 
he  would  promulgate  no  laws  and  make  no 
arrangements  in  Rome  without  consulting  him. 
But  though  it  had  been  already  implied  in 
this  oath  that  the  Emperor  would  also  hold  a 
court  of  justice  in  Rome,  only  not  without  an 
understanding  with  the  immediate  justiciary 
(i.e.,  the  Pope),  no  doubt  whatever  was  left  on 
this  point  in  the  decree  issued  after  the  coro- 
nation, in  which  Otto  confirmed  the  donations 
of  Pepin  and  Charles  to  the  Roman  See.  Most 
important,  however,  is  the  provision  in  the  deed 
that  thenceforth  no  Pope  should  be  recognised 
as  such  who  had  not  taken,  in  the  presence  of 

5 


66  The  Papacy 

the  King's  envoys,  the  solemn  oath  which  Otto 
demanded  from  Leo  VIII.,  who  was  personally 
instituted  by  him. 

All  this  is  hard  to  understand,  unless  it  be 
remembered  that,  before  proceeding  to  Rome, 
Otto  had  put  the  relations  of  the  German  Church 
to  the  State  upon  a  wholly  new  basis.  In  the 
time  of  Louis  the  Pious  and  his  sons,  the  bishops 
had  aimed  at  breaking  free  from  that  depen- 
dence on  the  State  which  had  weighed  so  heavily 
upon  them  since  the  time  of  Charles  Martel. 
Otto's  rule  acted  as  a  counterblast  to  these 
aspirations,  which  had,  moreover,  been  baffled 
by  the  unfavourable  conditions  of  the  time. 
The  free  election  required  by  the  Church's 
canons  did  not  exist  in  the  eyes  of  the  King. 
When  a  bishopric  fell  vacant  he  chose  a  man 
acceptable  to  himself.  From  his  royal  master 
the  new  bishop  received  the  Church  property, 
which  was  made  over  to  him  to  administer.  The 
King  gave  him  the  ring  and  staff,  emblems  of 
his  office  (this  was  later  called  investiture),  and 
asked  little  or  nothing  about  his  ecclesiastical 
qualifications. 

This  state  of  things,  which  lasted  for  a  century, 
was  bound,  and  the  more  so  the  longer  it  con- 
tinued, to  rouse  the  opposition  of  those  who 
took  a  serious  view  of  the  Church's  functions. 
The  expression  of  this  opposition  came  from  the 


Stormy  Times  67 

monastery  of  Cluny  and  those  other  monastic 
communities  which  were  founded  or  influenced 
by  it. 

In  the  year  910,  when  society  was  still  in  a 
state  of  general  disorganisation,  William,  Count 
of  Auvergne  and  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  who  had 
inherited  the  estate  of  Cluniacum  in  Burgundy, 
south  of  the  modern  Chalons,  provided  by  will 
for  the  establishment  of  a  monastic  community 
there.  The  monastery  was  to  be  entirely  inde- 
pendent and  subject  to  no  outside  authority, 
whether  secular  or  ecclesiastical.  Even  the 
Pope's  interference  in  the  affairs  of  the  monas- 
tery was  forbidden  in  respectful  terms  by  the 
charter.  It  lay  far  from  the  thought  of  the 
pious  duke,  who  was  thus  ministering  to  his 
soul's  welfare,  that  this  modest  foundation  of 
his  would  become  the  hearth  from  which  the 
holy  fire  of  the  freedom  of  the  Church  would 
shortly  blaze  up  to  heaven.  The  great  abbots 
Majolus,  Odilo,  and  Hugo,  who  for  a  century 
and  a  half  directed  the  destinies  of  Cluny,  did 
their  utmost  to  fan  this  fire,  and  its  light  soon 
shone  over  every  country.  First,  the  dissolute 
life  of  the  monks  had  to  be  regenerated  by 
closely  uniting  under  the  headship  of  Cluny  the 
separate  monasteries  which  showed  themselves 
amenable  to  reform.  Then  the  Church  was 
wakened  from  her  torpor,  and  her  eyes  opened 


68  The  Papacy 


to  the  chains  with  which  the  earthly  powers 
held  her  bound.  New  life  was  breathed  into 
the  Pseudo-Isidorian  Decretals.  And  gradually, 
very  gradually,  there  began  to  grow  a  desire  to 
become  master  of  those  same  earthly  powers  and 
to  translate  into  fact  the  idea  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  on  earth  which  had  once  taken  shape 
in  the  mind  of  St.  Augustine,  that  passionate 
spirit  who  could  grasp  at  once  the  earthly  and 
the  heavenly,  the  idea  that  the  Church  is  the 
Kingdom  of  God. 

The  mighty  growth  of  this  idea  is  one  of  the 
greatest  spectacles  to  be  seen  in  the  history  of 
the  Church.  France  is  laid  under  its  spell, 
Lorraine  serves  as  the  bridge  to  Germany,  it 
presses  forward  across  the  Alps,  it  approaches 
Borne,  gains  possession  of  the  Papal  See,  and 
seizes  upon  the  throne  of  the  world,  embodied 
in  the  mighty  hierarchs  whose  aim  is  to  compel 
the  rulers  of  the  nations  into  their  service. 

In  the  meantime  the  Empire  and  the  Papacy 
had  once  more  formed  an  almost  mystical 
alliance.  The  piety  of  Otto  showed  itself  again 
in  his  grandson  Otto  III.  (983-1002),  but  in  a 
fantastic  and  distorted  form.  This  romantic 
youth,  who  took  up  his  residence  in  Rome  and 
manifested  by  the  magnificence  of  his  court  the 
preference  for  Byzantine  ways  of  living  which 
he  had  inherited  from  his  Greek  mother,  grati- 


Stormy  Times  69 

fied  his  unbalanced  religious  aspirations  by 
severe  penances,  visited  monastery  after  monas- 
tery, and  once  even  thought  of  assuming  the 
monastic  habit.  Towards  the  Papacy  he  played 
the  part  of  ruler  without  seeing  that  he  himself 
was  becoming  more  and  more  the  tool  of  the 
Pope.  Pope  Sylvester  II.  (999-1003),  while  still 
Gerbert,  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  had  won  the 
easily  inflamed  heart  of  the  impetuous  youth 
by  his  many-sided  culture  and  his  sagacious 
counsel.  This  distinguished  man  of  letters,  to 
whom  legend  has  imputed  a  league  with  the 
devil,  was  also  an  extremely  astute  politician. 
As  archbishop  he  combated  the  Pseudo-Isidorian 
canon-law,  as  Pope  he  begged  for  the  blessing 
of  Cluny  and  gave  his  mind  to  the  sub- 
ordination of  the  State  to  the  Church.  At  the 
same  time  he  nourished  in  his  imperial  admirer 
the  fantastic  dream  of  an  universal  monarchy 
and  succeeded  in  keeping  him  to  the  end  in  the 
illusion  that  he  was  leading  while  in  reality  he 
was  being  led. 

The  reigns  of  the  first  Salic  Emperors  were 
not  favourable  to  the  Popes'  desire  for  inde- 
pendence. Conrad  II.  and  Henry  III.  held 
firmly  to  the  rights  of  the  Crown,  as  they  had 
received  them  from  Otto  I.  And  yet  things 
were  otherwise  than  under  the  Saxon  emperors. 
Cluny  had  not  worked   in   vain.     The  bishops 


yo  The  Papacy 

and  abbots  were  still  faithful  to  the  King,  but 
they  had  learnt  that  a  bishop  or  an  abbot, 
by  reason  of  his  vocation,  was  different  from 
a  duke  or  a  count,  and  they  began  to  feel  that 
their  unconditional  inclusion  in  the  official  order 
of  the  Empire  was  a  hindrance  to  their  spiritual 
mission.  Henry  III.  (1039-56),  who  was  other- 
wise minded  than  his  father,  fully  understood 
this  mission.  Nor  must  it  be  overlooked  that  in 
Agnes,  the  mother  of  Henry  IV.,  he  had  married 
a  princess  of  the  house  of  Aquitaine,  in  which 
the  idea  associated  with  the  name  of  Cluny  was, 
so  to  speak,  hereditary.  But  when  he  checked 
simony,  i.e.,  the  deeply  rooted  evil  of  exploiting 
the  gift  of  spiritual  offices  for  material  ends — 
he  did  so  by  virtue  of  his  rights  as  Emperor, 
even  when  the  Papacy  was  concerned.  It  was 
by  virtue  of  these  rights  that  Henry,  in  the 
splendid  synod  of  Sutri,  deposed  two  Popes 
(1046)  and  forced  the  third  to  resign  ;  it  was  by 
virtue  of  these  rights  that  he  made  a  German 
prelate  Pope,  and,  on  his  death  shortly  after, 
yet  another,  so  that  the  appointment  to  the 
Papal  Chair  appeared  more  than  ever  to  have 
become  the  Emperor's  concern.  But  when 
Henry  raised  his  cousin.  Bishop  Bruno  of  Toul, 
to  the  Holy  See,  it  so  happened  that  his  nominee 
carried  with  him  into  his  high  office  the  ideas  of 
Cluny,  in  which   he  was   entirely  wrapped   up, 


Stormy  Times  71 


and  helped   to   prepare   the   overthrow   of  the 
imperial  rights. 

Leo  IX.  (10i9-54),  the  first  Pope  since 
Nicholas  I.  to  be  numbered  among  the  Saints  of 
the  Church,  made  his  entrance  into  Rome  in  the 
garb  of  a  pilgrim.  He  would  not  enter  upon  his 
office  until  he  had  submitted  himself  to  the 
election  of  both  clergy  and  laity,  as  the  rule  of 
the  Church  required.  He  honestly  used  the  few 
years  of  his  pontificate  to  restore  the  authority 
of  Rome  over  the  nations.  He  took  frequent 
journeys,  and  at  the  synods  he  himself  saw  that 
things  went  right.  It  was,  however,  the  yearly 
Lenten  synod  held  in  Rome  which  served  him 
as  the  means  of  showing  to  the  whole  Church 
that  in  Peter's  Chair  also  that  spirit  of  reform 
had  become  active,  which  had  long  spoken  to 
Christendom  through  the  abbots  of  Cluny. 
For  centuries  the  Church  had  been  unaccus- 
tomed to  listen  to  the  Pope  in  religious  matters. 
Even  now  all  did  not  lend  him  a  willing  ear ; 
but  the  change  was  at  hand. 

About  the  same  time  the  union  between  the 
Greek  and  Roman  Churches,  which  had  so  often 
been  endangered  and  only  patched  up  with 
difficulty,  came  finally  to  an  end.  There  had 
been  no  question  of  any  sort  of  common  life 
since  the  synod  held  in  692  in  the  great  hall  of 
the  Emperor's  Palace  in  Constantinople,  which 


72  The  Papacy 


had  been  convoked  as  an  ecumenical  synod,  but 
had  not  been  recognised  by  Rome,  and  had  given 
sharp  expression  to  the  antagonism  between  the 
two  Churches  as  regards  ritual  and  government. 
Only  once  more  was  any  action  taken  in 
common.  At  Nicsea  in  787  the  seventh  general 
synod  established  the  principles  of  the  venera- 
tion of  images  for  the  whole  Church.  When, 
shortly  after,  the  Western  Church  made 
the  addition  to  the  third  article  of  the  Nicene 
Creed  that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeded  not  only 
from  the  Father — as  the  words  ran  till  then — 
but  also  from  the  Son,  both  the  devout  and  the 
mighty  in  the  Greek  Church  took  fright  at  such 
heresy.  When,  moreover,  Pope  Nicholas  took 
advantage  of  his  ascendency  to  interfere  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  sister  Church,  the  latter 
bluntly  refused  (879)  to  admit  the  Roman  claims. 
Since  then  nearly  two  centuries  had  elapsed. 
The  situation  had  finally  become  intolerable. 
Greatly  against  his  will  Leo  IX.  was  forced  to 
carry  out  the  judgment  already  pronounced 
by  the  centuries.  The  patriarch  Michael 
Cserularius,  availing  himself  of  certain  diplo- 
matic obeisances  which  his  imperial  master,  hard 
beset  by  wars,  had  made  to  the  Pope,  had  re- 
newed in  an  intensified  form  the  old  reproaches 
against  Rome.  The  dissensions  which  resulted 
from  this  could  not  be   smoothed  over.     So  it 


Stormy  Times  73 

came  to  pass  that  on  July  16,  1054,  the  envoys 
of  Leo  IX.  laid  the  papal  sentence  of  excom- 
munication on  the  altar  of  the  Church  of  St. 
Sophia,  and  it  has  remained  in  force  up  to  the 
present  day.  When  they  returned  to  Rome 
they  found  the  Pope  dead. 

The  Cardinal-bishop  Humbert,  one  of  the  most 
trusted  of  the  Pope's  conjfidants,  had  been  one  of 
the  envoys.  A  few  years  after  the  incident  in 
Constantinople  he  published  a  treatise,  "  Against 
the  Simonists,"  in  which  the  programme  of  the 
Church  reformers  is  expounded  more  clearly 
than  anywhere  else.  His  interpretation  of  the 
past  is  worthy  of  attention.  Every  disorder  in 
the  Church  is  due  to  the  Ottos,  who  wrested 
the  government  from  the  Roman  pontiffs. 
They  arrogated  to  themselves  rights  which 
belong  only  to  the  "  sacerdotium "  (the  priest- 
hood), by  investing  clerics  with  the  crosier. 
Now  simony  rages  in  every  country.  Nor  was 
the  judgment  of  God  lacking.  The  Ottos  barely 
reached  the  third  generation,  and  Henry  II. 
died  childless.  Humbert  approves  only  of 
Henry  III.  ;  because  he  tried  to  root  out 
simony,  he  has  gone  to  a  better  world.  But 
even  Henry  III.'s  pious  behaviour  cannot  alter 
the  fact  that  the  Church  has  her  own  laws 
as  well  as  her  own  judges,  viz.,  those  she  has 
placed    in    authority.      Only    when    these    last 


74  The  Papacy 

neglect  their  duties  should  a  temporal  ruler 
be  called  in  to  help.  And  the  priestly  order  is 
the  highest:  it  is  like  the  eyes  in  the  human 
head,  while  the  lay  power  resembles  the  breast 
and  arms  and  must  obey  and  defend  the  Church. 
It  is  no  mere  coincidence  that  about  the  same 
time  the  austere  Peter  Damiani,  another 
champion  of  high  Church  ideas,  uses  for  the 
first  time  the  metaphor  by  which  after  him  the 
relation  between  Church  and  State  is  always 
explained — the  metaphor  of  the  two  swords. 
"  The  kingship  and  the  priesthood,"  writes 
Damiani,  "  have  each  their  respective  provinces  : 
the  king  wields  the  weapons  of  this  world,  the 
priest  is  girded  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
i.e.,  God's  Word,"  and:  "Well  is  it  when  the 
sword  of  the  kingship  is  so  allied  with  the 
sword  of  the  priesthood  that  the  sword  of  the 
priest  mitigates  the  sharpness  of  the  Emperor's 
sword,  and  the  Emperor's  sword  gives  an  edge 
to  that  of  the  priest.  Then  will  both  be  had  in 
great  honour." 

These  thoughts  also  filled  the  mind  of  the 
man  who,  long  before  he  astonished  the  world 
as  Gregory  VII.,  had  the  ruling  of  the  Church. 
Hildebrand  had  grown  up  in  poor  circumstances. 
It  is  not  known  for  certain  where  he  was  born. 
He  appears  to  have  come  in  his  early  youth  to 
Rome  and  there   to   have   been   educated   in   a 


Stormy  Times  75 

monastery.  It  is  still  doubtful  whether  he  ever 
became  a  monk,  though  it  is  probable  that  he 
did,  and  also  that  he  was,  if  only  for  a  short 
time,  at  Cluny.  Leo  IX.,  with  whom  he  entered 
Rome,  gave  him  an  office  in  the  administration 
and  he  very  soon  gained  great,  even  pre- 
ponderating, influence.  His  hand  is  recognis- 
able in  all  the  papal  elections  after  Leo's 
death.  It  was  he  who  induced  Nicholas  II. 
(1059-61)  to  issue,  at  the  Roman  synod  of  1059, 
the  decree  which  placed  the  election  of  the 
Pope  in  the  hands  of  the  cardinals  and  reduced 
the  influence  of  the  Emperor  to  practically 
nothing.  He  guided  the  foreign  policy  of  the 
Holy  See  into  new  channels,  he  formed  new 
ties  and  prepared  everything  for  the  contest 
which  had  become  inevitable. 

During  the  last  few  years  the  Papacy  had 
gained  new  allies  in  Italy.  The  Normans, 
towards  whom  Leo  IX.  had  made  advances, 
and  who  had  for  a  short  time  held  the  Holy 
Father  prisoner,  were  brought  over  to  the 
papal  camp  by  Robert  Guiscard — it  was  Hilde- 
brand  who  received  the  Duke's  oath  of  fealty. 
"  In  the  defection  of  the  Normans  from  the 
German  Empire  it  sustained  one  of  its  greatest 
losses,"  writes  Ranke,  and  "  through  the  alliance 
with  them  the  Pope  became  Emperor  in  Southern 
Italy."    Godfrey  of  Lorraine  took  his  duchy  in 


76  The  Papacy 

fee  from  Alexander  II.  (1061-73),  Gregory's 
immediate  predecessor,  and  in  his  step-daughter 
Matilda,  the  great  Countess  of  Tuscany,  the  Holy 
See  had  a  fervent  adherent.  But  the  Roman 
statesmen  took  advantage,  in  a  particularly  skil- 
ful way,  of  the  movement  of  the  lower  classes  in 
the  republican  cities  of  Northern  Italy — called 
"Pataria"  from  a  street  in  Milan — with  the 
socialistic  aims  of  which  were  associated  the 
catchwords  against  simony  and  the  marriage 
of  priests.  The  less  the  Papacy  was  certain  of 
the  higher  clergy  in  Upper  Italy,  the  more 
important  it  was  to  procure  definite  support 
from  the  party  opposed  to  them. 

The  development  of  affairs  in  Germany 
was  particularly  fortunate  for  the  Papacy. 
Henry  III.  had  died  on  October  5,  1056,  in  his 
thirty-ninth  year.  It  is  impossible  to  imagine 
what  would  have  happened  if,  instead  of  his 
son,  who  was  swayed  in  all  directions  by  the 
most  varied  influences,  this  great  ruler  had 
been  able  to  guide  the  destinies  of  Germany 
for  another  generation.  The  ultramontane 
attack  would  have  encountered  a  steadier  and 
more  intelligent  opposition,  and  this  opposition 
would  have  been  the  more  effective  in  that 
Henry  was  capable  of  understanding  the 
legitimate  claims  of  the  Church.  Now,  just 
at  the  critical  moment  when — for  the  first  time 


Stormy  Times  77 


for  centuries — a  papal  party  was  beginning  to 
form  itself  again  in  Germany,  there  was  no 
one  to  give  heed  to  events  full  of  menace  for 
the  future  and  with  a  firm  hand  to  nip  the 
evil  in  the  bud.  Adalbert,  the  great  Archbishop 
of  Bremen,  who  saw  further  than  his  colleagues, 
fell  a  victim  to  the  government  of  the  nobles 
at  the  court  of  the  young  king.  We  see  the 
Bishop  of  Constance,  who  had  been  invested 
by  Henry  IV.  himself  with  the  ring  and  staff, 
solemnly  resigning  his  oifice  because  he  had 
stained  it  with  simony.  And  February,  1073, 
brings  the  event  that  reveals  for  the  first  time 
the  acuteness  of  the  impending  conflict :  two 
candidates  contend  for  the  archiepiscopal  see 
of  Milan ;  the  King  is  asked  for  his  approval 
of  the  papal  candidate,  and,  when  he  refuses 
it,  Alexander  takes  a  step  of  immeasurable 
significance  :  he  excommunicates  the  royal 
councillors.  A  few  weeks  pass  ;  the  Pope  dies, 
and  the  next  day  Gregory  comes  forward  as 
the  absolute  ruler  of  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  VI 

GREGORY  VII.   AND  HIS  SUCCESSORS 

UNDER  the  title  of  "  What  belongs  to  the 
Roman  Pontiff,"  Cardinal  Deusdedit,  a 
distinguished  canonist  of  the  time,  put  together 
twenty-seven  short  propositions  which  were 
included  in  the  collection  of  Gregory  VII.'s 
State  letters,  and  thus  acquired  an  official 
character.  The  claims  contained  in  this  so- 
called  "Dictatus  Gregorii  Papae"  are  based 
on  the  Pseudo-Isidorian  Decretals,  but  taken 
together  they  exceed  anything  previously  heard 
of.  The  following  are  the  main  points :  The 
Pope  has  absolute  power  over  the  Church 
— he  alone  can  depose  bishops  or  receive  them 
again  into  her  communion,  and  that  without 
a  synod  being  necessary ;  he  can  translate  a 
bishop  from  one  see  to  another,  if  it  appears 
necessary,  and  can  appoint  clergy  to  any 
church  at  his  good  pleasure ;  no  general  synod 
can  be  summoned  except  at  his  command ;  his 

78 


Gregory  VII.  and  his  Successors   79 

legate  has  precedence  of  all  the  bishops,  even 
when  he  is  of  lower  ecclesiastical  rank,  and 
no  canonical  decision  can  be  recognised  with- 
out his  sanction  ;  all  the  more  important  law- 
suits must  be  submitted  to  him ;  he  himself, 
however,  is  to  be  judged  of  none.  His  abso- 
lute superiority  to  all  temporal  authority  is 
also  laid  down — the  Pope  may  depose  the 
Emperor ;  he  may  release  subjects  from  their 
oath  of  allegiance  to  *'  unrighteous "  rulers  ; 
he  may  bear  imperial  insignia,  and  all  rulers 
must  kiss  his  feet.  And  over  and  above  all 
this  rises  the  idea  that  a  lawfully  elected 
Pope  undoubtedly  becomes  a  saint  through 
the  merit  of  the  blessed  Peter,  and  that  the 
Roman  Church  — ^.e.,  the  Pope — has  never 
erred,  and,  as  Scripture  testifies,  never  can  err. 
That  Gregory  VII.  was  wholly  possessed  by 
these  notions,  and  that  he  strove  with  un- 
wearied energy  to  translate  them  into  fact,  is 
evident  from  all  his  public  utterances,  as  well 
as  from  all  his  actions.  But  he  needed  no 
canon-law,  genuine  or  forged.  He  drew  from 
his  inmost  being  the  conception  of  the  life- 
task  which  he  held  to  be  imposed  upon  him 
by  the  chief  of  the  apostles,  who  "  with  espe- 
cial love  had  sheltered  him  from  his  child- 
hood under  his  wings  and  cherished  him  in 
his    bosom."      It  is   not   without  purpose   that 


8o  The  Papacy 


he  always  appeals  to  St.  Peter,  who  "  takes 
his  name  from  the  strong  rocks,  who  bursts 
open  the  gates  of  hell  and  with  iron  strength 
breaks  in  pieces  and  scatters  all  that  opposes 
him."  In  the  name  of  the  Apostle  he  fights  for 
the  extension  of  the  Divine  righteousness  on 
earth,  and  to  his  last  breath  he  clung  to  that 
faith.  He  would  keep  the  peace  with  all, 
except  those  who  raise  their  hand  against 
St.  Peter.  But  that  is  just  what  the  present 
rulers  do.  Their  government  certainly  has  its 
justification,  but  only  so  far  as  they  them- 
selves are  servants  of  that  righteousness  which 
is  embodied  in  the  Church.  Fools  are  those 
who  say  that  a  Roman  pontiff  may  not  ex- 
communicate the  Emperor.  Does  not  every 
man  know  that  "kings  and  princes  took  their 
origin  from  those  who,  without  knowledge  of 
God,  prompted  by  the  devil,  the  Prince  of  this 
world,  in  blind  passion  and  intolerable  pride, 
usurped  the  lordship  over  their  fellows — 
i.e.y  over  mankind — with  insolence,  robbery, 
treachery,  and  murder — in  short,  with  almost 
every  kind  of  crime  ? "  With  their  blood- 
stained hands  they  present  the  sacred  emblems 
to  those  who  administer  the  Sacrament.  Is  it 
not  a  sacrilege  that  princes  and  nobles  decide 
who,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  shall  feed  His 
flock — yea,    that    they    even    make   a  trade   of 


Gregory  VII.  and  his  Successors  8i 

it?  And  these  pastors  are  themselves  fast 
bound  in  the  chains  of  worldliness,  they  live 
with  wife  and  child,  they,  the  priests  of  God, 
who,  free  from  all  earthly  cares,  should  live 
only  for  their  sacred  work. 

At  the  very  first  Lenten  synod,  held  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1074,  Gregory  enjoined  afresh  the  celi- 
bacy of  priests,  and  in  the  following  year 
added  further  the  regulation  that  it  was  for- 
bidden to  hear  Mass  said  by  married  priests. 
He  met  with  fierce  opposition.  At  a  synod 
at  Erfurt,  summoned  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Mayence,  there  were  tumultuous  protests.  The 
Pope  also  set  his  face  against  lay  investiture. 
At  the  synod  of  1075  he  disallowed  the  right 
of  secular  authorities  to  confer  bishoprics,  and 
forbade  all  participation  of  the  laity  in  the 
bestowal  of  ecclesiastical  offices.  But  he  did 
more :  he  once  again  excommunicated  the  Em- 
peror's councillors.  And  he  did  all  this  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  he  was  himself  in  a  perilous 
position.  The  good  relations  with  the  Nor- 
mans had  come  to  an  end,  the  popular  move- 
ment in  Northern  Italy,  which  the  Pope  had 
encouraged,  had  suffered  many  checks,  the 
upper  clergy  in  Germany  were  opposed  to  him, 
and  the  power  of  the  Emperor  seemed  as 
strong  as  ever.  But  this  same  power  did  not 
stand  the  test  applied  to  it. 

6 


82  The  Papacy 

Henry  IV.  is  one  of  those  historical  figures 
that  make  a  bad  impression  because  they  were 
so  entirely  unsuccessful.  The  fault  was  his  in 
a  lesser  degree  only.  Few  kings  confronted 
with  so  responsible  a  task  have  been  such 
victims  of  circumstances  as  he ;  and  we  feel, 
again  and  again,  how  disastrous  was  the  early 
death  of  his  father.  While  Rome  was  gather- 
ing all  her  forces  for  a  tremendous  effort,  the 
royal  authority  in  Germany  was  beginning  to 
weaken.  The  trend  of  the  papal  policy  could 
have  been  discerned  by  any  one,  however 
short-sighted,  from  the  events  under  Alex- 
ander II.,  though  truly  there  was  little  reason 
to  expect  such  a  reckless  onslaught  as  that 
with  which  Gregory  set  to  work.  Least  of  all 
was  the  young  King,  who  had  not  yet  con- 
cerned himself  with  ecclesiastical  politics,  pre- 
pared. Thus  Gregory  enjoyed  all  the  advan- 
tages of  the  attacking  party.  Further,  he  had 
the  special  advantage  of  being  able  to  use  the 
current  gossip  about  the  private  life  of  the 
King  to  show  himself  the  upholder  of  law  and 
morality.  He  cared  little  for  the  arts  of  diplo- 
miacy.  It  is  hard  to  think  of  anything  less 
politic  than  the  private  message  to  the  King 
with  which  he  commenced  hostilities  in  Decem- 
ber, 1075.  He  exaggerated  the  gossip  into  a 
crime,   and   threatened   Henry   with   excommu- 


Gregory  VII.  and  his  Successors   83 

nication.  No  wonder  the  King  took  such  treat- 
ment ill,  especially  as  in  the  autumn  he  had 
received  a  letter  from  the  Pope,  courteously 
expressed  and  sincerely  meant,  congratulating 
him  on  his  victory  over  the  Saxons.  That  in 
face  of  such  an  attack  he  could  still  rely  upon 
the  clergy  was  proved  by  the  synod  imme- 
diately convened  at  Worms.  It  was  a  fortu- 
nate coincidence  for  him  that,  in  this  assembly, 
in  any  case  ill-disposed  towards  Gregory,  Car- 
dinal Hugo  Candidus,  who  had  quarrelled  with 
the  Pope,  heaped  the  most  serious  charges 
on  Gregory,  even  to  the  dreadful  suggestion 
that  the  death  of  the  last  Pope  lay  at  his 
door.  Brought  forward  by  a  man  in  a  posi- 
tion to  know,  such  accusations  did  not  fail  to 
make  an  impression,  the  more  so  that  no  one 
paused  to  take  into  consideration  the  Cardinal's 
animosity  and  dishonesty. 

Thereupon  the  King  put  pressure  on  the 
assembly,  and  made  each  bishop  sign  a  form 
in  which  he  renounced  obedience  to  the  Pope. 
He  himself  sent  the  following  haughty  epistle 
to  Gregory  : — 

"  Henry,  King  not  by  usurpation  but  by  the 
gracious  dispensation  of  God,  to  Hildebrandj^  not 
the  Pope  but  a  false  monk.  This  greeting  hast 
thou  deserved  according  to  thine  own  confes- 
sion,  thou  who    hast    spared   no   rank  in   the 


84  The  Papacy 


Church,  giving  not  a  blessing  but  a  curse.  The 
rulers  of  Holy  Church,  archbishops,  bishops,  and 
priests,  the  anointed  of  the  Lord,  hast  thou 
trodden  underfoot  like  slaves,  and  thereby  won 
for  thyself  the  favour  of  the  populace.  All  this 
have  we  borne  with  patience  because  we  desired 
to  uphold  the  honour  of  the  Holy  See.  But 
thou  hast  taken  our  reverence  for  fear,  hast 
insolently  rebelled  against  our  royal  dignity 
conferred  upon  us  by  God,  and  hast  threatened 
to  deprive  us  of  it,  as  if  we  had  received  our 
authority  from  thee,  as  if  kingship  and  empire 
lay  in  thy  hands,  and  not  in  the  hands  of 
God;  though  Christ,  our  Lord,  raised  us  to  the 
kingly  office,  but  not  thee  to  the  priestly  office. 
Thou  hast  risen  by  steps  involving  cunning, 
bribery,  and  violence  ;  thou  hast  mounted  the 
throne  of  peace  and  from  it  hast  destroyed 
peace  by  arming  inferiors  against  their 
superiors,  by  teaching  contempt  of  our  bishops, 
called  of  God,  and  by  giving  to  the  laity  power 
over  priests.  .  .  .  Me  too,  who,  unworthy  among 
the  anointed,  have  been  anointed  ruler,  hast 
thou  assailed,  though  the  holy  Fathers  teach  that 
God  alone  can  judge  me,  and  that  I  can  be 
deposed  for  no  crime  but  that,  which  God 
forbid,  of  turning  from  the  faith  ...  St.  Peter, 
the  true  Pope,  exclaims  :  '  Fear  God,  honour  the 
king.'     But  because  thou  fearest  not  God,  thou 


Gregory  VII.  and  his  Successors   85 

honourest  not  His  anointed.  .  .  .  Therefore 
come  down  from  thy  place,  loaded  with  the 
curse  of  our  bishops  and  condemned  by  our 
judgment.  Leave  the  apostolic  throne  which 
thou  hast  usurped.  Let  another  take  St.  Peter's 
Chair,  one  who  cloaks  not  his  violence  with 
religion,  but  teaches  the  true  doctrine  of  Peter. 
I,  Henry,  by  the  grace  of  God  King,  with  all  my 
bishops,  say  unto  thee,  '  DoAvn  I  down  ! ' " 

This  step  has  been  regarded  with  good  reason 
as  an  act  of  stupidity,  to  be  explained,  indeed, 
by  justifiable  excitement  and  therefore  to  be 
excused,  but  none  the  less  fatal.  When  the 
imperial  envoys  called  upon  the  Pope,  before 
the  assembled  synod  in  the  Lateran,  to  vacate 
his  see,  there  ensued  a  tremendous  tumult,  and 
Gregory  appears  to  have  protected  them  at  the 
risk  of  his  own  life.  Supported  by  the  feeling 
of  the  Roman  clergy,  which  found  an  echo  far 
beyond  the  walls  of  Rome,  he  took  immediate" 
action.  He  excommunicated  Siegfried,  Arch- 
bishop of  Mayence,  who  had  presided  at  the 
Synod  of  Worms  ;  he  allowed  the  others  who 
had  taken  part  in  it  a  certain  time  for  retracta- 
tion ;  finally,  in  the  solemn  form  of  a  prayer  to 
the  Apostle,  his  patron  saint,  he  also  excom- 
municated and  deposed  the  King  : — 

"  Holy   Peter,  chief   of   the   Apostles,  incline, 
I   pray   thee,    thine    ear   to   me,   hear  me,    thy 


86  The  Papacy 

servant,  whom  thou  hast  nourished  from  child- 
hood, and  hast  saved  to  this  day  out  of  the 
hand  of  the  enemies  who  have  hated  and  still 
hate  me  because  I  serve  thee  in  truth.  Thou 
art  my  witness,  and  my  Lady  the  mother  of 
God  is  witness,  thy  holy  brother  Paul  also  and 
all  the  saints,  that  thy  Holy  Roman  Church  has 
plaqpd  me  at  her  head  against  my  will,  that 
I  counted  it  not  robbery  to  ascend  to  thy  chair, 
and  that  rather  would  I  end  my  days  in  foreign 
lands  than  snatch  at  thy  seat  by  worldly 
intrigues.  Of  thy  free  grace,  not  because  of 
my  works,  did  it  please  thee  that  the  Christian 
people  entrusted  to  thy  care  should  obey  me  as 
thy  delegate,  and  for  thy  sake  has  the  power 
been  granted  me  to  bind  and  to  loose  in  heaven 
and  on  earth.  Being  full  of  this  confidence,  for 
the  honour  and  protection  of  thy  Church,  in  the 
name  of  Almighty  God,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  by  virtue  of  thy  authority, 
I  deprive  King  Henry,  son  of  the  Emperor 
Henry,  who,  with  unexampled  pride,  has  risen 
against  thy  Church,  of  the  government  of  the 
whole  Empire  of  Germany  and  Italy,  I  release 
all  Christians  from  the  oath  which  they  have 
made,  or  yet  may  make  to  him,  and  hereby 
forbid  any  man  to  serve  him  as  King.  For  it 
is  meet  that  whosoever  strives  to  diminish  the 
honour  of  thy  Church  should  himself  lose   the 


Gregory  VII.  and  his  Successors   87 

honour  which  he  seems  to  have.  And  because 
he  scorns  to  obey  like  a  Christian,  and  returns 
not  to  the  Lord,  whom  he  has  renounced  by 
fellowship  with  the  excommunicated,  by  divers 
evil  deeds,  by  despising  my  admonitions 
administered  for  his  salvation,  and  by  sepa- 
rating himself  from  the  Church,  I  do  bind  him, 
in  thy  name,  with  the  bonds  of  anathema,  that 
the  nations  may  know  and  confess  that  thou  art 
Peter,  and  that  upon  this  rock  the  Son  of  the 
living  God  has  built  His  Church,  and  the  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

We  have  given  these  documents  almost  in 
their  entirety  because  they  are  couched  in 
terms,  needing  no  comment,  such  as  had  never 
yet  been  heard  of  in  history.  That  secular  and 
spiritual,  kingship  and  priesthood  must  neces- 
sarily come  into  sharp  conflict  on  certain  points 
we  have  known  since  the  time  of  Agamemnon, 
and  there  are  examples  enough  in  the  history  of 
the  world  to  prove  it.  Centuries  ago  a  Pope  had 
shown  the  Byzantine  Emperor  his  proper  place 
when  he  dared  to  infringe  upon  the  right  of  the 
Church  to  self-government.  But  here  there  is 
more  at  stake.  It  is  no  longer  merely  a  ques- 
tion of  the  wish  to  protect  the  Church  from  the 
unjustifiable  encroachments  of  an  Otto  I.,  how- 
ever good  his  intentions  towards  her,  or  of  the 
pious  efforts   of  the  abbots  of  Cluny,  however 


88  The  Papacy 

certain  it  is  that  they  had  their  place  in 
Gregory's  thoughts.  It  is  rather  the  feeling 
of  omnipotence  of  one  who  knows  himself  to 
be  carrying  out  the  command  of  a  heavenly 
Master.  The  sentence  of  excommunication 
strikes  a  king  !  Nay,  more,  much  more— for 
excommunication  is  an  ecclesiastical  weapon — 
the  king  is  deposed  !  A  thousand  years  lie 
behind  us.  Out  of  the  mists  of  the  past  the 
Galilean  fisherman  rises  up,  and  behind  him 
another,  greater  than  he ;  the  words  "  Feed  My 
sheep ! "  ring  in  our  ears. 

It  was  soon  seen  how  incorrectly  King  Henry 
had  estimated  his  strength.  At  Whitsuntide, 
when  the  King  convened  a  new  assembly  at 
Worms,  hardly  any  one  came ;  a  few  weeks 
later  the  same  thing  occurred  again  at  Mayence. 
One  bishop  after  another  forgot  the  form  which 
he  had  signed.  The  King  was  excommunicated. 
Papal  legates  travelled  about  the  country. 
They  stirred  up  feehng  against  Henry  among 
the  lay  nobles,  of  whom  the  more  important 
had  always  been  in  opposition.  Under  these 
conditions  came  on  the  Diet  at  Tribur  in 
the  autumn  of  1076.  There,  too,  the  legates 
had  been  at  work,  and  the  result  was  that 
the  princes  made  the  mortifying,  humiliating 
demand  to  their  King  that  he  should 
obtain  absolution  within  the  next  few  months. 


Gregory  VII.  and  his  Successors  89 

if  he  wished  to  remain  sure  of  their 
obedience. 

In  these  straits  Henry  recovered  his  senses. 
His  crown  hung  in  the  balance.  The  son  of 
Henry  III.  was  in  danger  of  losing  everything. 
He  hears  that  the  revolted  nobles  are  reckoning 
on  the  Pope's  crossing  the  Alps  to  judge  Henry 
on  German  soil.  That  must  be  prevented  at 
all  costs.  The  sentence  of  excommunication  is 
his  opponent's  weapon.  It  must  be  wrested 
from  him.  How  hard  it  was  for  the  man 
who  had  been  master  of  the  Pope  to  go  to 
Canossa  is  not  mentioned  in  any  of  the 
accounts.  On  the  other  hand,  the  scene  itself 
has  been  described  with  abundance  of  detail. 
We  have  no  need  of  these  details  to  realise 
the  tremendous  import  of  the  event.  A  king, 
a  German  king,  stands  as  a  penitent,  barefoot, 
in  a  hair-shirt  before  the  foreign  priest ! 
Whether  he  stood  there  for  hours  or  for 
days,  it  seems  as  if  we  could  not  efface  the 
stain  that  clings  to  the  crown. 

That  it  was  a  stain  would  have  been  felt 
by  none  more  keenly  than  by  the  King  him- 
self. We  do  not  know  how  he  came  to  make 
up  his  mind  to  it,  nor  can  we  say  positively 
of  any  one  of  his  advisers  that  he  influenced 
his  actions  in  this  time  of  stress.  It  is  certain 
that   the   resolution  was   good,  was    necessary. 


90  The  Papacy 

Canossa  was  the  catastrophe  in  the  drama. 
But  the  drama  should  be  called  not  "  Henry 
IV.,"  but  "  Gregory  VII.,"  and  if  it  had  a  tragic 
ending  it  was  Gregory  who  had  to  atone  for 
it.  He  could  not  in  the  face  of  Countess 
Matilda  and  the  Abbot  of  Cluny,  his  supporters, 
in  the  face  of  the  Church,  and  above  aU  in  the 
face  of  his  own  conscience  and  his  conviction 
that  he  stood  in  the  Apostle's  place,  take  upon 
himself  to  refuse  absolution  to  a  penitent 
sinner,  were  he  Emperor  or  thrall.  He  gave 
way  therefore.  He  must  have  known  that 
in  so  doing  he  was  giving  away  the  game, 
and  indeed  this  is  clear  from  the  explanatory 
letter  which  he  sent  to  the  German  princes 
immediately  after  the  event.  It  does  him 
credit  that  he  allowed  the  priest  in  him  to 
conquer  the  statesman.  He  thus  in  his  fashion 
expiated  the  fact  that,  carried  away  by  irre- 
sistible forces,  he  had  overstepped  the  limits 
of  the  office  for  which  he  lived.  But  politically 
he  was  the  vanquished  party. 

Henry  had  assured  Gregory  on  oath  that  he 
would,  within  a  time  to  be  fixed  by  the  Pope, 
come  to  an  agreement  with  the  nobles  in 
accordance  with  the  Pope's  sentence  or  award. 
Moreover,  he  had  promised  Gregory  a  safe- 
conduct  for  a  journey  to  Germany.  Neither  a 
journey  nor  an  agreement,   however,  came  to 


Gregory  VII.  and  his  Successors  91 

pass.  Instead,  the  princes  assembled  at 
Forchheim  in  the  district  of  Bamberg,  elected 
in  March,  1077  an  anti-King  in  the  person  of 
Rudolf,  Duke  of  Swabia,  without  the  parti- 
cipation of  the  Pope,  it  would  seem,  though 
his  legates  were  present.  But  the  opposition 
which  led  to  this  action — a  doubtful  one  from 
every  point  of  view — was  ill-organised,  and 
the  blow  was  not  nearly  as  severe  for  Henry 
as  it  would  have  been  if  he  had  still  been  ex- 
communicated. Events  now  proved  that  the 
King  was  much  stronger  than  had  been  sup- 
posed. Not  only  the  greater  part  of  the 
nobility,  but  also  the  town  population  remained 
faithful  to  him,  and  he  could  rely  upon  his 
troops.  In  addition  he  was  sure  of  the  support 
of  the  bishops  in  Upper  Italy,  who  remained 
steadily  opposed  to  Gregory. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  our  purpose  to  follow 
the  details  of  the  political  and  military  moves 
and  countermoves  with  which  the  next  few 
years  were  filled.  But  it  is  important  to  lay 
stress  upon  the  fact  that  Gregory  more  and 
more  lost  command  of  the  situation.  He  could 
no  longer  hold  in  check,  even  in  himself,  the 
spirits  he  had  called  up.  Once  more,  at  the 
Lenten  synod  of  1080,  he  stringently  enjoined 
observance  of  the  decrees  regarding  simony 
and  lay  investiture,  and  in  this  he  was  in  the 


92  The  Papacy 

right.  But  when,  again  in  the  form  of  a  solemn 
invocation,  though  this  time  to  both  the  chief 
apostles,  he  excommunicated  Henry  anew, 
deprived  him  of  his  kingdom  because  of  his 
disobedience,  and  handed  it  over  to  Rudolf; 
and  when  he  grounded  this  action  on  the 
fact  that  the  apostles,  having  the  right  to 
bind  and  to  loose  in  heaven,  can  here  on  earth 
take  empires,  kingdoms,  princedoms,  duke- 
doms, margraviates  and  earldoms,  in  fine  all 
secular  property,  from  any  person  and  grant 
them  to  another  according  to  merit,  it  may 
well  be  asked  whom  he  could  hope  to  convince. 
The  means  actually  at  his  disposal  were  in 
sharp  contrast  to  his  pretensions.  It  is  true 
that  he  had  won  back  Robert  Guiscard,  and 
the  great  Countess  who  ruled  Central  Italy 
and  could  hold  Northern  Italy  in  check  remained 
faithful  to  him.  But  that  was  not  enough  to 
prevent  Henry  from  declaring  Gregory  deposed 
(at  Brixen,  in  the  summer  of  the  same  year) 
and  appointing  an  anti-Pope  in  the  person  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Ravenna,  who  took  the 
name  of  Clement  III.  Moreover  Rudolf  of 
Swabia  died  of  a  wound  received  in  battle, 
and  on  the  same  day  Matilda's  troops  were 
beaten  by  the  King's  supporters. 

Any  one  with  a  sense  of  the  dramatic  must 
be  strangely  impressed  by  the  sight  of  Gregory 


Gregory  VII.  and  his  Successors  93 

standing  unmoved  by  the  storm  which  rages 
around  him,  with  the  heavens  now  dark,  now 
fiercely  ilkimined.  The  King  remains  excom- 
municate, but  he  lays  siege  to  Rome.  Months, 
years  go  by:  he  enters  Rome;  his  Pope  gives 
him  the  imperial  crown,  but  Gregory  remains 
intrenched  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  till 
Robert  Guiscard  forces  the  imperial  army  to 
withdraw,  and  takes  the  Pope  with  him  to 
Salerno.     There  Gregory  died,  May  25,  1085. 

A  writer  at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century  was  the  first  to  record  the  last  words 
of  the  Pope  :  "  I  loved  righteousness,  I  hated 
iniquity,  therefore  I  die  in  exile."  Whether 
he  said  these  words  or  not,  they  contain  the 
truth.  The  great  antithesis  "  righteous  "  and 
"  unrighteous "  which  runs  through  the  Scrip- 
tures, especially  the  Old  Testament  (cf.  e.g. 
Ezek.  xviii.),  also  determined  Gregory's  view 
of  the  world.  And  righteousness  is  always  in 
the  Church,  iniquity  in  the  State.  It  is  not 
only  the  encroachments  of  the  secular  power 
that  constitute  its  unrighteousness.  When 
Gregory  spoke  of  the  discord  between  the 
Empire  and  the  Apostolic  See,  he  did  not  mean 
a  temporary  difference,  but  a  fundamental  an- 
tagonism of  principle.  The  State  has  the 
right  to  exist  only  in  so  far  as  it  is  subject 
to  the  Holy  See,  and  its  righteousness  consists 


94  The  Papacy 

in  the  fulfilment  of  the  duties  consequent  on 
this  subjection,  else  it  is  sinful.  Naturally 
this  applies  to  all  states.  In  the  spirit  of  this 
theory  Gregory  required  the  oath  of  fealty 
from  "William  the  Conqueror,  and  received  it 
from  many  lesser  rulers.  That  Spain  belonged 
to  the  Holy  See  was  for  him  a  matter  of  course  ; 
had  not  St.  Paul  worked  there,  and  had  not 
both  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  sent  bishops 
thither  ?  It  was  also  a  self-evident  consequence 
that  all  legitimate  rights  ceased  to  exist  when 
the  Holy  See  called  upon  subjects  to  rebel 
against  them. 

In  his  influence  over  the  minds  of  men, 
Gregory  ranks  with  those  who  have  greatly 
stirred  the  world.  It  seemed  as  if  men  had 
been  asleep  until  he  came.  Roused  from  their 
slumbers,  they  fell  on  one  another  in  bitter 
conflict.  A  whole  literature  grew  out  of  this 
strife :  now  the  cry  is  Gregory,  now  Henry, 
now  the  State,  now  the  Church,  now  sin,  now 
righteousness.  Seldom  does  a  peace-maker 
venture  to  raise  his  voice,  and  no  one  heeds  it. 
Only  very  gradually  does  it  come  to  be  recog- 
nised that  the  power  over  earthly  things  which 
Gregory  had  claimed  in  the  name  of  the  Church, 
by  no  means  guaranteed  that  freedom  of  the 
Church  from  earthliness  which  was  the  common 
aim  of  all    reformers.     Men  bethought    them- 


Gregory  VII.  and  his  Successors  95 

selves  once  more  that  kingship  and  priesthood 
were  diverse  in  every  respect.  They  remem- 
bered also  what  had  been  the  central  point  of 
the  antagonism.  That  the  king  should  confer 
office  on  a  priest  had  been  felt  to  be  a  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost.  Yet,  if  the  priest 
desired  to  exercise  other  than  ecclesiastical 
rights,  he  must  allow  the  secular  authority  a 
voice  in  his  appointment.  Therefore  the  priest 
must  either  renounce  all  secular  rights,  the 
"  ssecularia,"  and  be  content  with  the  "  spiri- 
tualia,"  the  exercise  of  his  spiritual  office,  for 
which  he  was  answerable  only  to  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,  or  else,  he  must  render  to  the  Church 
what  belonged  to  the  Church,  and  render  to  the 
State  what  belonged  to  the  State.  The  Church 
gives  the  bishop  the  ring  and  staff,  the  signs 
of  his  spiritual  authority,  thus  investing,  cloth- 
ing him  with  his  office ;  the  secular  authority 
may  also  give  him  the  sceptre  and  receive  his 
oath  of  fealty  in  exchange. 

The  Cluniac  monk  Urban  II.,  who  after  the 
short  rule  of  Victor  II.  (1085-87)  was  Pope  for 
twelve  years  (1088-99),  showed  no  signs  of 
going  back  on  the  schemes  and  pretensions  which 
he  had  inherited  from  Gregory  ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  sought  rather  to  outdo  his  model.  But  Pas- 
chal II.  (1099-1118)  entered  into  the  new  ideas. 
The   first   of  the  two  alternatives,  however,  at 


96  The  Papacy 


once  showed  itself  impracticable.  When  Paschal 
made  a  mild  attempt  to  induce  the  higher  clergy 
to  give  up  their  temporal  possessions,  in  so  far 
as  they  were  feudatory,  his  imprudence  almost 
cost  him  his  throne.  The  other  method  seemed 
all  the  more  promising.  It  fell  to  the  lot,  not  of 
Paschal,  but  of  his  next  successor  but  one, 
Calixtus  II.  (1119-24),  to  carry  the  matter 
through.  In  1122  the  remarkable  arrangement 
was  made  between  him  and  Henry  V.,  which  is 
known  to  history  as  the  Concordat  of  Worms. 
The  following  are  the  documents  :  "  In  the  name 
of  the  holy  and  indivisible  Trinity,  I,  Henry,  by 
the  grace  of  God  Roman  Emperor,  for  the  love 
of  God  transfer  to  the  Holy  Roman  Church  and 
to  the  Lord  Pope  Calixtus,  and,  for  the  sake  of 
my  salvation,  to  God  and  to  His  holy  apostles 
Peter  and  Paul  and  to  the  Holy  Catholic  Church, 
all  investiture  with  ring  and  staff,  and  I  permit 
ecclesiastical  election  and  free  consecration  in 
all  the  churches  of  my  kingdom  and  Empire. 
The  possessions  and  the  sovereign  rights 
[regalia]  of  St.  Peter  which  have  been  taken 
away  since  the  beginning  of  this  time  of  dispute 
to  the  present  day,  under  my  father's  rule  or 
mine,  do  I  restore,  so  far  as  I  possess  them,  to 
the  Holy  Roman  Church,  and  will,  so  far  as  I  do 
not  possess  them,  conscientiously  cause  them  to 
be  restored  to  her.     The  possessions  also  of  all 


Gregory  VII.  and  his  Successors  97 

the  other  Churches  and  lords  aud  of  all  other 
clergy  and  laity  which  in  this  time  of  confusion 
have  been  lost  to  their  owners  will  I  restore,  so 
far  as  I  have  them,  conformably  to  justice  and 
the  counsel  of  the  princes,  and,  so  far  as  I  have 
them  not,  I  will  conscientiously  cause  them  to 
be  restored.  I  do  also  promise  true  peace  to  the 
Lord  Calixtus  and  to  the  Holy  Roman  Church 
and  to  all  who  are  or  have  been  on  their  side. 
And  when  the  Holy  Roman  Church  requires  my 
support,  I  will  faithfully  help  her,  and  when  she 
brings  complaints  to  me  I  will  see  proper  justice 
done  to  her." 

The  Pope  replies : — 

"  I,  Calixtus,  Bishop,  servant  of  the  servants 
of  God,  swear  to  thee,  my  very  dear  son  Henry, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  Roman  Emperor,  that  the 
election  of  the  bishops  and  abbots  in  the  German 
Empire,  in  so  far  as  they  belong  to  the  German 
kingdom,  shall  take  place  in  thy  presence  with- 
out simony  or  force  of  any  kind.  If  dissensions 
should  arise  between  the  parties,  thou  shalt  give 
thine  assent  and  support  to  the  more  reasonable 
side,  conformably  to  the  advice  of  the  metro- 
politan and  the  other  bishops  of  the  province. 
The  man  elected  shall  receive  the  rights  of 
sovereignty  [regalia]  from  thee  by  means  of  the 
sceptre  and  shall  fulfil  the  duties  incident  there- 
on.    In  the  other  parts  of  the  Empire  the  con- 

7 


98  The  Papacy 

secrated  person  [i.e.,  not  the  elected  person]  shall 
receive  the  rights  of  sovereignty  [regalia]  within 
six  months  by  means  of  the  sceptre,  and  shall 
fulfil  the  duties  which  thus  devolve  upon  him. 
Excepted  from  this  is  all  that  belongs  to  the 
Roman  Church  [i.e.,  to  the  Pope  as  temporal 
sovereign].  If  thou  bringest  a  comj)laint  before 
me  or  requirest  my  support,  I  will  give  it  to  thee 
conformably  to  the  duties  of  my  office.  Also  I 
do  promise  true  peace  to  thee  and  to  all  them 
who  in  this  dispute  are  or  have  been  on  thy 
side." 

The  tone  of  this  is  indeed  different  from  that 
of  the  letters  of  Henry  IV.  and  Gregory.  And 
yet  it  is  not  peace.  The  Concordat  of  Worms 
was  only  a  truce.  Like  all  treaties  it  looked  well 
on  paper ;  in  reality  the  points  of  disagreement 
were  too  numerous  for  settlement.  The  Papacy 
emerged  from  the  investiture  struggle  a  great 
power,  claiming  one  of  the  first  places  among 
the  political  factors  of  the  time.  But  its  ambi- 
tion was  not  satisfied  :  the  great  power  wished 
to  become  a  world  power.  Nor  was  it  only 
ambition.  When  the  idea  that  the  Apostle 
should  rule  the  nations  as  well  as  the  Church 
had  once  taken  form,  it  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  it  would  ever  be  forgotten.  The  heritage 
of  Gregory  was  not  thrown  away. 


CHAPTER  VII 

AT   THE   SUMMIT   OF  POWER 

FOR  the  carrying  on  of  wars  and  the  making 
of  treaties,  money  and  soldiers  are  needed. 
Since  the  time  of  Gregory  VII.,  the  Papacy,  with 
unresting  energy,  has  taken  care  to  provide 
itself  with  both.  In  the  celibate  clergy  of  all 
countries  it  created  a  faithful  and  often  blindly 
devoted  army,  whose  intelligence  was  kept 
within  the  bounds  necessary  for  obedience, 
while  a  highly  developed  consciousness  of 
spiritual  and  secular  power  was  awakened  in 
them  by  granting  them  privileges  of  all  kinds. 
At  the  second  Lateran  Council — the  name  is 
given  to  the  assemblies  which  grew  out  of  the 
Lenten  synods  held  in  Rome,  and  in  which  the 
splendour  of  the  old  ecumenical  councils  was 
revived — the  principle  of  the  inviolability  of  the 
clergy  on  pain  of  excommunication  was  laid 
down.  That  priests  or  monks  should  be  cited 
before  a  secular  court  of  justice  was  condemned 

99 


lOO  The  Papacy 

as  sacrilege.  The  freedom  of  the  clergy  from 
secular  charges  and  taxes  was  demanded,  though 
not  immediately  carried  through.  Finally  the 
abolition  of  lay  investiture  resulted  in  practice 
in  a  great  diminution  of  secular  influence,  how- 
ever much  energetic  rulers  might  contend  for 
their  rights  or  more  than  their  rights. 

The  headquarters  of  this  army  were  in  Rome. 
There  the  Pope  had  his  court,  his  Curia  (Lat. 
curia,  a  court),  as  it  became  the  custom  to  call 
it  after  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  in 
spite  of  the  opposition  of  many  clergy  of  the  old 
school  who  considered  it  a  degradation  to  apply 
such  a  worldly  expression  to  the  Holy  Roman 
Church.  There  he  formed  his  general  staff,  the 
Cardinals,  i.e.,  the  bishops  of  his — in  the  local 
sense — Roman  province,  and  the  priests  and 
deacons  in  whom  he  had  special  confidence. 
From  there  he  directed  his  army  by  means  of 
his  legates,  his  ambassadors,  to  whom  he  handed 
over  his  right  to  interfere  with  the  ordinary 
powers  of  the  bishops.  Thither,  too,  was  to  be 
directed  the  flow  of  funds  which  the  field- 
marshal  needed  in  order  to  live  in  princely 
fashion  and  rule  undisturbed. 

He  drew  these  funds  only  in  part  from  the 
property  of  the  Roman  Church,  though  it  had 
increased  enormously  since  the  time  of  Gregory 
the  Great.     Even  with  what  he  drew  from  his 


At  the  Summit  of  Power     loi 

own  diocese  in  revenue  and  dues  there  was 
hardly  enough  for  the  most  necessary  expenses. 
An  important  source  of  income  was  the  Peter's 
Pence,  the  tribute  to  the  Holy  See  instituted 
by  the  English  kings  in  the  eleventh  century, 
and  soon  to  be  levied  also  from  the  northern 
kingdoms  and  Hungary  and  the  neighbouring 
districts,  while  France,  Spain,  and  Germany 
refused  to  pay  it.  Further  there  were  the 
fees  claimed  by  the  Pope  for  the  consecration 
or  confirmation  of  bishops  or  the  conferring 
of  the  "  Pallium,"  the  shoulder  ornament  of 
archbishops,  manufactured  in  Rome.  Finally 
the  exercise  of  jurisdiction  as  the  highest 
ecclesiastical  court  of  appeal  and  the  right 
of  dispensation  from  ecclesiastical  laws  brought 
large  sums  of  money  to  Rome,  though  the 
increasing  venality  of  the  Roman  authorities 
on  this  point  roused  much  indignation.  As 
early  as  the  twelfth  century  the  Oxford  deacon, 
Walter  Map,  gave  expression  to  the  general 
feeling  in  the  following  lines  : — 

"When  thou  to  Rome  to  journey  makest  bold, 
Her  judgment  seeking,  this  in  memory  hold: 
Eome  sure  will  wrong  thee  if  thou  giv'st  not  gold ; 
Justice  and  right  at  Rome  for  cash  are  sold." 

With     such     ample    provision    Rome    might 
venture   upon   the   struggle   for  the   empire  of 


I02  The  Papacy 

the  world,  and  chance  favoured  the  venture. 
Since  the  eleventh  century  the  longing  for 
the  possession  of  the  holy  places  in  the  East 
and  wrath  at  their  being  in  the  hands  of 
infidels  had  been  growing  stronger  and  stronger 
in  Western  Christendom.  The  Popes  succeeded 
in  organising  the  movement.  Sylvester  II. 
had  conceived  the  idea  of  a  crusade,  and 
Gregory  VII.,  before  his  breach  with  Henry  IV., 
had  occupied  himself  energetically  with  it ;  he 
had  once  written  to  the  King  that  he  wished 
to  go  himself  to  Palestine  at  the  head  of  an 
army.  The  plan  first  took  definite  shape  under 
Urban  II.  The  part  which  the  pious  Hermit 
of  Amiens  is  said  to  have  had  in  bringing 
about  the  holy  war  has  been  reduced  by  sober 
investigation  to  very  modest  proportions.  The 
Pope's  share  was  therefore  all  the  greater; 
he  inspired  the  cry  of  "  Dieu  le  veut"  at  the 
assembly  at  Clermont  (1095),  and  gave  the 
right  emphasis  to  the  general  enthusiasm  by 
his  promise  of  plenary  absolution  to  all 
crusaders.  Urban  did  not  live  to  see  the 
conquest  of  Jerusalem,  but  the  fortunate 
conclusion  of  the  war  while  it  opened  a  new  era 
in  European  history  also  gave  fresh  prestige 
to  the  papal  see. 

The  twelfth  century  brought  troublous  times. 
The    Papacy   became   once    more    a    plaything 


At  the  Summit  of  Power     103 

in  the  hands  of  the  Roman  nobility,  and 
Innocent  II.  (1130-43)  needed  the  help  of 
Lothair  of  Supplinburg  to  enable  him  to 
return  to  Rome  whence  he  had  been  driven  by 
the  Pierleoni  and  their  Pope  Anacletus.  But 
it  was  a  time  of  general  fermentation,  new 
things  were  everywhere  in  the  air,  and  those 
at  the  head  of  the  Church  were  as  yet  per- 
plexed as  to  the  course  to  pursue.  In  France 
there  was  a  revival  of  learning.  The  daring 
Abelard  explains  to  hundreds  in  his  school 
on  the  Mont  Ste.  Genevieve  in  Paris  that 
everything  in  the  tradition  of  the  Church  is 
not  equally  valuable ;  he  exasperates  the  great 
monks  like  Norbert  of  Xanten  and  Bernard 
of  Clairvaux  by  his  audacious  criticism,  but 
the  younger  generation  applauds  him.  In  secret 
conventicles  the  pious  whisper  to  each  other 
that  the  whole  Church  system,  worldly  as  it 
has  become,  together  with  its  head  in  Rome, 
belongs  to  the  devil.  Fanatics  go  about 
preaching  resistance  to  ecclesiastical  authority. 
At  the  same  time  the  Papacy  itself  is  hit  by 
the  attempt  to  set  up  a  republic  in  Rome — 
an  extension  of  the  struggle  for  independence 
which  had  long  been  going  on  in  secret  in  the 
cities  of  Northern  Italy.  Pope  Lucius  II.  (1144- 
45)  was  killed  by  a  stone  thrown  during  the 
street  fighting  that  ravaged  the  holy  city.     But 


I04  The  Papacy 


a  religious  character  was  given  to  the  democratic 
plans  of  the  leaders  of  the  Roman  citizens  by 
the  idealism  of  Arnold  of  Brescia,  the  ascetic 
of  whom  Bernard  said,  parodying  Scripture : 
"  There  came  a  man  who  ate  not,  neither 
did  he  drink,  but  with  the  devil  he  thirsted 
after  the  blood  of  souls."  He  became  the 
apostle  of  the  masses,  who  cheered  him  when 
he  denied  the  right  of  the  Pope  and  clergy  to 
temporal  power  and  authority,  though  he 
failed  to  inspire  them  with  his  stern  con- 
tempt of  the  world. 

Meanwhile  complications  with  Germany  were 
again  imminent.  The  family  of  the  Hohen- 
staufen  had  risen  to  power  in  circumstances 
that  put  them  under  obligations  to  the  Church. 
Conrad  III.  (1138-52)  owed  to  ecclesiastical 
aid  his  victory  over  the  Guelph  candidate  for 
the  throne.  He  did  not  interfere  in  the  con- 
fusion in  Italy.  Repeated  invitations  from 
Rome  to  cross  the  Alps  and  receive  the  crown 
at  the  hands  of  the  people  failed  to  move 
him.  Still  less  were  the  Romans  successful 
with  his  nephew,  Frederick  Barbarossa  (1152- 
90),  whose  imperial  pride  they  wounded  by 
representing  to  him  that  he  had  been  wrong 
in  neglecting  to  obtain  the  ratification  of  his 
election  from  Rome,  the  mistress  of  the  world, 
the   creator  and  mother  of  all  the   Emperors. 


At  the  Summit  of  Power     105 

The  answer  to  this  ridiculous  demand  was 
the  treaty  which  Frederick  conckided  with 
Pope  Eugenius  III.  in  1153,  in  which  he 
promised  to  subdue  the  city.  To  carry  out 
this  promise  was  the  object  of  his  first  expedi- 
tion to  Rome.  The  result  was  the  hanging 
of  Arnold  of  Brescia,  and  the  coronation  of 
Frederick  as  Emperor  by  Hadrian  IV. 

The  relations  between  the  Emperor  and  the 
Pope  did  not  long  remain  friendly.  Hadrian 
(1154-59),  an  Englishman  by  birth,  was  cast 
in  a  different  mould  from  that  of  his  pre- 
decessor, who,  influenced  by  the  pious  Abbot 
of  Clairvaux,  could  never  have  taken  pleasure 
in  the  exercise  of  temporal  power.  His  reign 
only  lasted  five  years,  but  in  this  short  time 
he  showed  that  he  felt  himself  strong  enough 
to  return  to  the  traditions  of  Gregory  VII. 
Frederick,  on  the  other  hand,  cherished  the 
idea  of  restoring  the  old  early  Christian  Empire, 
of  which  Justinian  appeared  to  him  the  most 
brilliant  representative.  Inspired  by  the  code 
of  Justinian  he  had  his  imperial  rights  con- 
firmed on  the  plain  of  Roncaglia.  But  in  so 
doing  he  had  reckoned  neither  with  the 
increased  independence  of  the  cities  of  Northern 
Italy  nor  with  the  augmented  strength  of  the 
Papacy.  The  former  he  succeeded  in  over- 
throwing temporarily,  only  to  suffer  the  most 


io6  The  Papacy 


crushing  defeat  later ;  the  latter  opposed  the 
Emperor  with  the  full  force  of  its  apostolic 
claims,  to  which  that  generation  had  become 
quite  unaccustomed. 

As  was  the  case  with  Hildebrand  under 
Alexander  II.,  Cardinal  Roland,  who  as 
Hadrian's  successor  took  the  name  of  Alexander 
III.  (1159-81),  had  become  the  leading  spirit 
of  the  papal  government  under  his  predecessor. 
He  was  an  eminent  jurist  who,  when  professor 
at  Bologna,  had  published  one  of  the  first 
commentaries  on  the  version  of  the  canon 
law  known  as  the  "  Decretum  Gratiani,"  com- 
piled about  the  middle  of  the  century  by  the 
Camaldolite  Gratian,  and  soon  acknowledged 
as  the  standard  text-book.  He  also  tried  his 
hand  at  theology  in  a  manual  on  dogma, 
written  according  to  Abelard's  method,  though 
not  in  his  spirit.  Hadrian  entrusted  the  most 
important  missions  to  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Church.  It  was  while  on  one  of  these  that 
the  Cardinal  handed  the  Emperor  at  the  Diet 
at  Besan<jon  in  1157  that  arrogant  letter  from 
the  Pope,  which  so  angered  Frederick  that  he 
expelled  the  envoys  forthwith.  Thus  when 
Roland  became  Pope  there  was  added  to  the 
already  inherent  antagonism  of  Papacy  and 
Empire,  the  personal  antagonism  of  Pope  and 
Emperor.     Frederick   immediately  appointed  a 


At  the  Summit  of  Power     107 

rival  to  his  enemy  in  the  person  of  Victor  IV., 
succeeded  by  Paschal  III.  Alexander  excom- 
municated the  Emperor  and  was  successful 
in  obtaining  the  recognition  of  the  kings  of 
France  and  England,  whom  Frederick  had 
already  offended  by  his  arrogant  behaviour. 
In  France  the  Pope  found  refuge  when  the 
enraged  Emperor  marched  on  Italy  to  chastise 
his  adversary. 

It  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the  Emperor  when 
the  miasma  of  the  Roman  Campagna  attacked 
and  ravaged  his  hitherto  victorious  army.  We 
read  with  ever-fresh  sympathy  how  more  than 
a  dozen  of  Frederick's  generals  and  statesmen 
succumbed  to  the  pestilence.  Among  them  were 
several  bishops  who  had  remained  faithful  to 
him,  and  last  of  all  his  Chancellor,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Cologne,  after  whom  the  first  years  of 
Frederick's  reign  have  been  well  called  "the  age 
of  Reinald  of  Dassel."  It  seemed  now  as  if 
fortune  had  utterly  deserted  him.  The  Lombard 
cities  founded  Alessandria  to  be  the  stronghold 
of  the  Italian  opposition.  Henry  the  Lion,  by 
ceasing  to  play  a  double  game,  was  the  cause  of 
his  defeat  at  Legnano.  Alexander's  messengers 
went  through  Germany  and  stirred  up  feeling 
against  Frederick,  who  by  degrees  became  quite 
crushed  and  bewildered  by  his  reverses.  The 
scene   which   took  place   in  St.  Mark's  Square, 


io8  The  Papacy 

Venice,  in  July,  1177,  and  which  has  been 
immortalised  in  a  great  fresco  in  the  Doges' 
Palace,  was  a  new  and — to  be  truthful — a  far 
worse  Canossa,  not  because  Frederick,  when 
absolved  from  the  sentence  of  excommunication, 
performed  the  customary  act  of  homage  by 
kissing  the  Pope's  toe,  but  because  he  did  it 
with  the  gnawing  consciousness  that  he  was 
vanquished.     His  ideal  had  perished. 

Alexander,  on  the  other  hand,  issued  from 
this  struggle  more  powerful  than  any  of  his 
predecessors.  His  victory  over  the  Emperor 
was  indeed  but  one,  though  the  greatest,  of  his 
successes.  On  the  grave  of  the  murdered 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  the  King  of  England 
performed  the  penance  imposed  upon  him  by 
the  Pope.  To  the  new  Portuguese  kingdom  of 
Alfonso  I.  Alexander  gave  his  blessing,  and  in  a 
solemn  Bull  he  rejected  the  claims  of  Castile  and 
Leon.  The  synod  which  he  held  in  1179  in 
the  Lateran  was  really  an  ecumenical  council, 
to  which  the  few  Eastern  Christians  who  had 
remained  in  communion  with  Rome  sent  re- 
presentatives. 

The  power  of  the  Papacy  is  now  just  below 
its  highest  point.  From  Alexander  III.  to 
Innocent  III.  (1198-1216),  who,  if  not  the 
greatest,  was  at  all  events  the  most  fortunate 
of  all  the   Popes,   there   is   but   a  step.     Four 


At  the  Summit  of  Power     109 

centuries  have  elapsed  since  Charlemagne  took 
the  imperial  crown  in  St.  Peter's.  Now  the 
successor  of  that  Leo,  who  had  to  thank  God 
that  he  had  escaped  the  judgment  of  the  King, 
had  the  German  crown  at  his  disposal,  and 
encountered  no  opposition  when  he  asserted 
that  the  Empire  depended  first  and  last  on  the 
Holy  See.  He  weighed  against  one  another  the 
claims  of  Philip  of  Swabia,  of  Otho  the  Guelf, 
and  of  the  young  Hohenstaufen,  his  ward,  as  if 
he  were  discussing  some  scholastic  theme,  and 
when  Otho — to  whom  he  gave  the  preference — 
proved  less  amenable  than  the  Pope  had  thought 
he  deposed  and  excommunicated  him.  It  was 
at  his  command  that  Frederick  II.,  a  boy  of 
seventeen,  marched  into  Germany  to  carry  out 
the  sentence,  and  in  the  Golden  Bull  of  Eger 
(1213)  acknowledged  all  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  claims  of  the  Pope  with  the  assent 
of  the  princes. 

Innocent  had  declared  that  the  Lord  had 
given  to  St.  Peter  the  government,  not  only  of 
the  Church,  but  also  of  the  whole  world,  and 
facts  bore  out  this  statement.  The  kings  of 
all  lands  had  to  bow  before  the  Pope.  He,  not 
Sancho,  ruled  Portugal ;  Peter  of  Aragon  received 
his  crown  from  him,  as  did  the  Prince  of  Bul- 
garia also.  When  Philip  Augustus  of  France 
defied  him  he  laid  the  whole  country  under  an 


no  The  Papacy 

interdict,  and  the  church  bells  ceased  to  ring. 
The  English  king,  John  "  Lackland,"  publicly- 
acknowledged  himself  the  Pope's  vassal,  and 
took  back  the  kingdom  of  which  Innocent 
had  deprived  him,  in  fee  from  him.  Here 
the  Pope  reached  the  limits  of  his  power. 
Innocent  had  tyrannised  over  this  miserable 
king,  but  in  Magna  Carta  the  English  barons 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  English  Constitution, 
and  the  Roman  Pontiff's  protests  were  in  vain. 

The  Pope's  influence  was  equally  important 
in  Eastern  affairs.  He  combined  the  dream 
of  the  great  Emperor  Henry  VI.  (1190-97)— 
who  had  died  prematurely — with  the  idea  of 
Gregory  VII.,  by  preaching  a  new  crusade. 
Although  it  was  not  his  intention  that  the  great 
enterprise  should  take  the  Byzantine  capital 
as  its  objective  and  not  the  Holy  Land,  the 
creation  of  the  Latin  Empire  at  Constantinople 
undoubtedly  gave  a  special  lustre  to  his  reign. 
The  highest  point  of  this  reign  and,  at  the  same 
time,  the  highest  point  of  the  development  of 
papal  power  in  general  was,  however,  the  fourth 
Lateran  Council  (1215),  the  greatest  ecclesiastical 
assembly  that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  It  was 
attended  not  only  by  far  more  than  a  thousand 
ecclesiastical  delegates  from  East  and  West, 
South  and  North,  but  also  by  envoys  of  the 
temporal  powers.     Nor  is  this   council  memor- 


At  the  Summit  of  Power     in 

able  only  as  a  representative  assembly.  It  set 
the  seal  to  much  that  the  Church  had  long 
wished  to  settle.  At  it  the  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation  received  its  official  formulation,  and 
the  regulations  as  to  confession  at  Easter  were 
finally  laid  down. 

In  the  preface  to  a  collection  of  sermons 
which  he  himself  brought  out,  Innocent  wrote : 
— "  So  overwhelmed  am  I  with  business  that 
I  cannot  possibly  do  justice  to  every  detail. 
I  meditate  continually  on  heavenly  things,  but 
am  hardly  allowed  time  to  breathe.  So  much 
am  I  taken  up  by  others  that  I  am  almost  a 
stranger  to  myself."  This  confession  must  be 
taken  into  consideration  in  judging  the  Pope,  as 
also  the  programme  which  he  set  forth  in  his 
sermon  on  the  day  of  his  consecration.  Govern- 
ment and  service,  he  says,  complete  each  other. 
The  Pope's  service  is  his  personal  duty,  one  that 
he  has  in  common  with  all  Christians ;  to  rule  is 
his  prerogative  as  the  Vicar  of  God.  The  man 
who  as  Pope  issued  his  commands  to  kings  had, 
when  Cardinal-deacon,  laid  down  in  a  special 
treatise  that  the  world  was  only  worthy  of 
contempt,  and  had  uttered  a  warning  against 
that  pursuit  of  vanities  which  made  the  misery 
of  human  life.  As  Pope  he  gave  his  attention 
to  the  religious  movements  in  which  his  time 
was  so  rich.     Heretics,  indeed,  were  an  abomina- 


112  The  Papacy 


tion  to  him ;  he  sent  an  armed  force  against  the 
Albigenses,  and  would  have  nothing  to  do  even 
with  the  devout  Waldenses,  because  they 
wished  to  reach  God  in  an  independent  and 
peculiar  way.  But  he  gladly  authorised  God- 
fearing laymen  who  called  upon  the  world  to 
repent,  provided  they  pledged  themselves  not 
to  disregard  the  ordinances  of  the  Church  ;  and 
when  Francis  of  Assisi,  in  whom  he  heard  the 
voice  of  the  future,  asked  for  his  blessing,  he 
did  not  refuse  to  give  it.  It  is  worthy  of  note 
that — on  July  16,  1216 — Innocent,  the  most 
brilliant  of  all  successors  of  the  Apostle,  sank 
to  rest  at  Perugia,  the  very  place  in  which  the 
gospel  of  poverty  was  then  being  preached  with 
new  tongues. 

At  the  Lateran  Council  a  fresh  crusade  had 
been  decided  upon.  The  troops  were  to  embark 
from  Sicily  in  June,  1217,  under  the  leadership 
of  the  Emperor  Frederick  II.  Innocent  did  not 
live  to  see  this  plan  carried  out,  nor  did  his 
successor,  Honorius  III.  (1216-27),  witness  its 
fulfilment.  The  Emperor  failed  to  keep  the 
promise  he  had  made  at  his  coronation  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle.     How  did  this  come  about? 

In  the  centuries  that  we  have  been  studying, 
the  Emperor  and  the  Pope  had  often  crossed 
swords.  But,  up  to  Frederick  II.,  the  German 
kings  who  were  at  war  with  the  Papacy  were 


At  the  Summit  of  Power     113 

all  filled  with  respect  for  it  as  an  institution. 
In  the  Pope  they  reverenced  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter,  only  they  did  not  wish  to  see  him 
encroach  on  their  sphere  of  influence.  In  spite 
of  momentary  ebullitions  of  wrath  they  saw  in 
the  Church  the  mother  of  Christendom,  and 
to  Christianity  itself  they  clung  with  devout 
faith.  It  was  otherwise  with  Frederick  II. ;  his 
attitude  towards  Christianity  was  that  of  a 
sceptic,  not  a  believer;  he  saw  in  the  Church 
not  a  mother  but  an  intrusive  inspectress,  and 
in  the  Pope  he  saw  the  convinced,  or  not  always 
even  convinced,  champion  of  aU  that  hindered 
the  extension  of  true  civilisation,  the  increase  of 
human  culture  and  human  knowledge.  It  was 
not  for  nothing  that  he  was  born  in  Sicily,  the 
Paradise  of  mingled  religions;  it  was  not 
for  nothing  that  he  had  imbibed  a  preference 
for  Arab  ways  of  thinking  and  living.  Philoso- 
phers frequented  his  court,  and  natural  science 
was  more  to  him  than  scholastic  theology.  It 
was  not  that  he  avoided  the  great  ultimate 
questions  that  stir  the  human  mind,  but  he 
sought  an  answer  acceptable  to  his  reason,  and 
refused  to  let  authority  dictate  what  was  pro- 
fitable for  his  soul. 

Once  again  we  get  the  sharp  clash  of  anta- 
gonistic forces.  Honorius,  indeed,  was  nearly 
made  a  fool  of  by  Frederick  ;  but  in  Gregory  IX. 

8 


114  The  Papacy 

(1227-41),  the  nephew  of  Innocent,  the  Emperor 
found  an  adversary  of  a  different  kind.    Only  a 
few  months  after  his  accession  he  excommuni- 
cated Frederick,  who  continued  to  find  excuses 
for  putting  off  the  burdensome  crusade,  which 
seemed  to  him  to  hinder  more  important  busi- 
ness.    And  then  an  unheard-of  thing  happened. 
As  if  he  took  pleasure  in  the  idea  of  setting  the 
Pope  at  defiance  and  of  entering  the  Holy  Land 
while  still  under  the  Church's  ban,  Frederick  at 
once   set   sail  and,  without  drawing  his  sword, 
achieved  what  earlier  crusaders  had  purchased 
only   at   the  cost  of   much   blood  or  not  at  all. 
The  holy  places  were  restored  to  the  Christians. 
The   excommunicate  Emperor,  however,  himself 
took  the  crown  of  Jerusalem.    He  soon  returned 
to  Europe,  routed  the  Pope's  troops,  and  forced 
him   to   grant   him  absolution.     Then  he  again 
devoted  himself  to  his  Sicilian  kingdom,  and  also 
to  the  refractory  cities  of  Lombardy.     Ten  years 
passed,  and  again  the  Pope  excommunicated  the 
Emperor,   who   replied    with    a    defence    which 
resembled   a   challenge.      The  Pope  then  threw 
off   the  last  vestige  of   restraint  and  hurled  at 
Frederick  reproaches  which  go  beyond  anything 
that  a  Pope   had  hitherto  dared   to  say  to   his 
Emperor.     He  compared  him  with  the  Beast  of 
the  Apocalypse ;  he  accused  him  of  treachery  to 
the  Church,  of  ill-using  her  adherents,  of  perjury 


At  the  Summit  of  Power     115 

in  regard  to  his  earlier  promises,  and  finally  of 
heresy  and  blasphemy: 

"  Since  the  Emperor  asserts  that  he  cannot 
be  excommunicated  by  us,  the  Vicar  of  Christ, 
he  himself  shows  how  badly  he  thinks  of  the 
other  chief  articles  of  the  Christian  faith. 
But  if  any  one  should  doubt  that  he  has 
entangled  himself  in  his  own  words  let  him 
listen  to  the  convincing  evidence  of  the  truth. 
This  pestilent  king  asserts — we  use  his  own 
words — that  the  whole  world  has  been  deceived 
by  three  impostors,  Moses,  Mahomet,  and  Christ, 
of  whom  two  died  in  honour,  but  the  third  on 
the  cross.  Further,  he  has  dared  loudly  to 
affirm  (or  rather  to  lie)  that  all  are  fools  who 
believe  that  God  Almighty,  the  Creator  of 
heaven  and  earth,  was  born  of  a  Virgin.  He 
bases  this  heresy  on  the  erroneous  idea  that 
none  can  be  born  without  the  previous  union  of 
man  and  woman,  and  that  man  in  general  should 
believe  nothing  that  cannot  be  proved  by  the 
nature  of  things  and  by  reason." 

Although  the  Pope  could  never  prove  his  chief 
accusation  —  the  Emperor's  saying  about  the 
three  impostors — and  although  he  doubtless 
committed  himself  dangerously  by  the  careless- 
ness with  which  he  made  the  charge,  in  the 
main  his  reproaches  were  justified.  Frederick  II. 
was  a  heretic  if  there  ever  was  one,  and  when 


ii6  The  Papacy 


the  fugitive  Innocent  IV.  (1243-54)  declared  in  a 
solemn  speech  at  the  Council  of  Lyons  in  1245, 
that  the  Emperor  had  forfeited  his  throne,  he 
did  what  he  must  have  felt  himself  called  upon 
to  do  by  virtue  of  his  apostolic  office.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  important  indications  of  the  dis- 
integration of  the  Church  which  was  already 
beginning,  that  the  Emperor's  friends  remained 
faithful  to  him  until  his  death,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  the  curse  not  only  of  the  Church  but 
also  of  Heaven  seemed  to  rest  upon  him. 

To  return  to  Gregory  IX.  His  reign,  though 
lacking  in  the  outward  splendour  which  makes 
that  of  Innocent  III.  stand  out  in  such  brilliant 
light,  was  a  period  of  events  of  high  importance 
for  the  Church.  He  was  the  great  patron  of  the 
Mendicant  Orders.  It  is  true  that  Honorius  III. 
had  already  confirmed  the  Orders  of  the  Domini- 
cans (Preaching  Friars),  and  the  Franciscans 
(Minorites,  Friars  Minor),  but  the  Protector 
of  the  Franciscans  was  Ugolino,  Cardinal- 
bishop  of  Ostia,  the  future  Gregory  IX.  He 
supplemented  the  mountain-moving  faith  of  the 
Saint  of  Assisi,  whose  best  friend  he  was,  with 
the  sagacity  of  the  ecclesiastical  prince,  and 
helped  first  and  foremost  to  give  to  St.  Francis's 
ideal  the  form  which  made  its  efficacy  in  the 
Church  and  in  the  world  possible  and  assured. 
He   set  the  work   of  the  Dominicans,  who  had 


At  the  Summit  of  Power     117 

been  founded  to  convert  heretics,  on  a  firm 
foundation,  by  transferring  to  them,  as  in  the 
name  of  the  Pope,  the  powers  of  inquisition,  i.e., 
investigation  into  heterodoxy,  hitherto  exercised 
by  the  bishops  (1232). 

This  measure  is  associated  with  blood,  but  it 
was  only  the  outcome  of  the  charge  of  souls 
given  to  the  Apostle,  and  is  based  on  Scripture. 
The  doctrine  of  the  two  swords  which  was  first 
heard  of  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  to  which 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux  gave  its  classical  form, 
had  in  the  meantime  been  included  among  the 
Pope's  pretensions.  Both  swords,  including  the 
secular  one,  belong  to  the  Church ;  for  the  Lord 
(Matt.  xxvi.  52)  did  not  say  to  the  disciple,  "  Put 
thy  sword  away  from  thee,"  but  "  Put  up  again 
thy  sword  into  his  place."  The  Church  therefore 
is  not  to  discard  the  temporal  sword,  she  is  only 
not  to  use  it ;  she  has  given  the  handling  of  it 
to  the  secular  arm,  which  has  to  use  it  in  her 
name,  and  therefore  only  in  accordance  with  her 
views.  Does  not  Constantino's  Donation  prove, 
as  Gregory  IX.  wrote,  that  he  to  whom  God  has 
given  the  direction  of  heavenly  things,  shall  also 
rule  over  earthly  things  ? 

The  papal  canon  law  that  culminates  in  this 
claim  was  officially  put  together  for  the  first 
time  by  Gregory  (1234).  When  Raphael,  at  the 
command  of  Julius  II.,   decorated  the   hall   in 


ii8  The   Papacy 

which  the  Pope's  mandates  were  sealed,  he 
immortalised  the  granting  of  the  canon  and 
the  civil  law  in  two  pictures  :  on  the  left  the 
Emperor  Justinian  is  handing  the  Roman  code 
to  Tribonian,  on  the  right  Gregory  IX.  giv«s 
his  code  to  one  of  his  jurists.  What  Gelasius, 
in  advance  of  his  age,  once  said,  what 
Gregory  VII.  repeated  to  William  of  England, 
appears  to  be  coming  true — the  State  receives 
its  light  from  the  Papacy  as  the  moon  from  the 
sun. 

One  other  thing  is  significant.  Gregory  IX. 
gave  to  the  rapidly  developing  science  of 
theology  its  noblest  scene  of  action.  In  the 
newly  founded  University  of  Paris,  the  consti- 
tution of  which  the  Pope  settled  in  a  Bull 
(1231),  the  theologians  were  preponderant. 
Here  studied  or  taught  the  great  luminaries 
of  Dominican  and  Franciscan  scholasticism, 
like  Alexander  of  Hales,  Albertus  Magnus, 
Bonaventura,  and  Thomas  Aquinas.  It  was 
Thomas  Aquinas  who  fixed  the  idea  of  the 
world-rule  of  the  Papacy  from  a  theological 
point  of  view.  Before  him  theologians  had  at 
best  expressed  themselves  with  reserve  on  the 
doctrine  of  papal  infallibility.  Thomas  gave  it 
a  dogmatic  basis  on  the  strength  of  the  Gre- 
gorian canon  law,  and  of  a  forgery  which  he 
accepted    as    genuine,    and    which    led    him    to 


At  the  Summit  of  Power     119 

believe  that  the  Fathers  of  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries  had  already  supported  the 
doctrine.  He  also  penned  the  proposition  that 
subjection  to  the  Pope  is  necessary  to  salva- 
tion. With  that  the  utmost  is  said  and  the 
highest  point  is  reached. 

Then  Fate  knocks  at  the  door. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    BABYLONIAN    CAPTIVITY    AND    THE    PARLIA- 
MENTARY  GOVERNMENT   OF  THE   CHURCH 

WHEN  Innocent  IV.  heard  in  France  of 
the  death  of  Frederick,  he  might  well 
have  uttered  a  sigh  of  relief,  for  he  was  freed 
from  a  powerful  antagonist.  He  immediately 
returned  to  Italy,  passing  through  Northern 
and  Central  Italy  in  triumph,  but  he  did  not 
see  his  capital  for  several  years.  His  position 
was  difficult.  However  much  he  may  have 
been  convinced — to  use  his  own  words — that 
the  eternal  King  and  Priest  after  the  order 
of  Melchizedek  had  given  him  supreme  power, 
he  would  have  been  glad  to  receive  help  in 
destroying  the  dragon-seed  of  the  Hohen- 
staufen.  He  first  offered  the  crown  of  Sicily 
to  an  English  prince,  who  declined  it  with 
thanks ;  then  to  Charles  of  Anjou,  but  the 
negotiations  came  to  nothing.  Manfred  be- 
came    stronger    and    stronger,     and    Innocent 


The  Babylonian  Captivity    121 

died.  His  successor,  Alexander  IV.  (1254-61), 
was  not  more  fortunate.  Urban  IV.  (1261-64) 
at  last  succeeded  in  prevailing  upon  Charles 
to  accept  the  crown.  Whether  for  that  reason 
he  may  be  reckoned  among  the  Popes  who 
influenced  history,  may  remain  an  open  ques- 
tion, for  he  was  only  carrying  out  the  idea  of 
another.  But  the  fact  itself  was  of  great 
significance.  In  Frederick  II.  the  destiny  of 
the  world-empire  had  worked  itself  out ;  other 
powers  now  took  its  place.  The  coming  of  the 
house  of  Anjou  to  Naples,  and  the  strengthen- 
ing of  the  French  monarchy,  marked  a  turning- 
point  in  political  history ;  the  centre  of  gravity 
had  shifted.  But  we  may  ask  whether  the 
Papacy  stood  to  gain  by  this.  That  Charles 
of  Anjou  and  his  brother  Saint  Louis  of 
France  were  pious  Christians  and  devout 
adherents  of  the  Roman  Curia  was  only  a 
guarantee  for  the  time  being.  Other  times 
might  come — and  they  did  come. 

In  any  case,  the  state  of  the  Church  was 
far  from  satisfactory  to  the  Curia.  The  strict 
or  "  spiritual "  Franciscans  were  indignant  at 
the  interference  of  the  Popes  with  their 
statutes,  and  at  their  attempts  to  wring  from 
the  Order  the  utmost  measure  of  fixed 
abode  that  was  compatible  with  their  prin- 
ciples.     The    beginning    of    this    conflict    goes 


122  The  Papacy 


back  to  the  time  of  Gregory  IX.  It  became 
more  acute  under  Innocent  IV.,  and  the  dis- 
putes of  the  last  years  of  Frederick's  reign 
cannot  be  understood  unless  it  is  taken  into 
consideration.  It  is  most  interesting  to  observe 
how  the  zealots  begin  to  cast  a  halo  round 
the  head  of  the  unbelieving  Emperor,  as  the 
scourge  of  the  worldly  Papacy.  When  the 
enemy  of  the  Church  lies  in  his  grave,  they 
set  their  hopes  on  his  return  as  judge.  They 
reckon  that  in  the  year  1260  the  three 
times  and  half  a  time  spoken  of  in  the  Reve- 
lation of  St.  John  (xii.  14)  will  be  fulfilled, 
and  they  live  in  the  belief  that  the  end  of  all 
things  is  at  hand.  They  await  the  catastrophe 
with  feverish  impatience,  and  stir  up  excite- 
ment among  the  people.  The  critical  year 
arrives,  no  Frederick  comes,  the  Chair  of  St. 
Peter  does  not  totter,  but  the  world  sees  for 
the  first  time  the  spectacle  of  those  Flagel- 
lants who  pour  forth  from  Perugia,  the  focus 
of  the  Franciscan  movement,  over  Lombardy, 
before  long  to  Rome,  then  over  the  Alps 
into  Provence  and  Germany,  and  as  far  as 
Hungary  and  Poland.  The  excitement  lasted 
for  several  decades ;  even  then  it  did  not  really 
die  out,  but  only  changed  its  form. 

It    was    soon    to    be    seen    whether    in    this 
altered  condition   of  affairs  the  Papacy  would 


The   Babylonian  Captivity    123 

be  able  to  maintain  the  claim  to  the  empire 
of  the  world,  which  it  had  disputed  with  the 
Hohenstaufens,  with  varying  fortune,  but  vic- 
toriously on  the  whole.  In  1294  Boniface  VIII. 
(1294-1303),  who  was  the  first  to  give  the  shape 
of  a  crown  to  the  papal  mitre,  became  Pope. 
Modern  research  has  attempted,  not  without 
success,  to  remove  the  blackest  shadows  from 
his  portrait,  which  his  embittered  contempo- 
raries painted  in  the  darkest  colours.  But  his 
extravagance,  bordering  on  mania,  still  re- 
mains, as  also  his  malicious  delight  in  sarcasm 
and  mockery  —  certainly  no  sign  of  good 
nature.  It  can  be  no  mere  accident  that  the 
miserable  shattering  of  his  life-work  lacks  that 
element  of  tragedy  which  gives  so  poignant  an 
interest  to  other  great  dramas  in  the  world's 
history. 

And  yet  just  such  a  drama  was  being  played 
between  the  Pope  and  the  French  King  as  was 
played  of  old  between  Henry  and  Gregory. 
But  what  was  great  in  Gregory  strikes  us  as 
bizarre  in  Boniface.  He  did  not  fight  for  an 
ideal  with  the  self-surrender  of  a  heart  filled 
with  strength  from  on  high,  for  he  lacked 
any  religious  impulse,  but  held  with  crazy 
obstinacy  to  the  display  which  he  had  not  the 
means  to  keep  up.  Nor  was  Philip  the  Fair 
made    of    very    fine    stuff.      He    was    harshly 


124  '^^^  Papacy 

despotic  and  absolutely  unscrupulous.  But 
what  he  won  for  himself  and  for  his  crown, 
with  all  the  egoism  of  a  forceful  tyrant,  served 
to  help  on  progress  in  general.  He  was  able 
to  impress  on  his  nobles,  and  through  them 
on  large  sections  of  the  people,  a  hatred  of 
clerical  tutelage  so  deep  that  it  never  dis- 
appeared. It  was  absurd  that  the  Pope,  pre- 
suming on  legal  titles  of  a  bygone  age,  should 
wish  to  forbid  the  King  to  tax  Church  property 
when  the  military  reputation  of  the  Crown 
required  it.  We  need  only  compare  the 
polemics  of  this  period  with  those  of  the  time 
of  Gregory,  or  consider  the  quiet  assurance 
with  which  the  French  Chancery  made  the 
Pope's  threatening  letters  look  ridiculous,  in 
order  to  see  on  which  side  the  victory  would 
lie.  In  the  light  of  these  facts,  the  famous — 
not  to  say  notorious — Bull  "  Unam  Sanctam " 
of  November  18,  1302,  loses  its  exciting  cha- 
racter. In  this  Bull,  Boniface  once  more 
summed  up  the  claims  of  the  spiritual  power 
to  supremacy  over  the  temporal  power  with 
biting  acrimony,  as  though  he  felt  that  it  was 
already  too  late.  It  contains  nothing  new  for 
us,  and  nothing  characteristic  of  the  Pope 
except  perhaps  the  little  spiteful  remark  that 
the  Church  can  only  have  one  head,  not  two, 
for  otherwise  she  would  be  a  "  monster."    "  Feed 


The  Babylonian  Captivity    125 

My  lambs,"  we  hear  once  more ;  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  is  called  to  witness :  "  See,  I  have 
this  day  set  thee  over  the  nations  and  over 
the  kingdoms " ;  the  Apostle  Paul  testifies : 
"  He  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things,  yet 
he  himself  is  Judged  of  no  man."  The  theory 
of  the  two  swords  is  also  spun  out  at  length. 
And,  lest  theology  should  fall  short,  the  docu- 
ment closes  with  the  statement  of  Thomas 
Aquinas,  that  obedience  to  the  Pope  is  neces- 
sary to  salvation. 

On  his  side  Philip  summoned  the  States 
General.  He  caused  the  Pope  to  be  solemnly 
accused  not  only  of  ill-will  towards  France, 
but  also  of  personal  crimes.  Even  the  charge 
of  heresy  was  not  lacking.  Boniface,  it  was 
alleged,  did  not  believe  in  immortality,  and 
denied  the  reality  of  the  transubstantiation 
in  the  Eucharist.  On  the  advice  of  excellent 
canonists  the  King  appealed  —  the  first  time 
that  this  had  occurred — to  a  general  council 
and  to  a  future  legitimate  Pope.  But  he  went 
further.  He  caused  his  chancellor,  William 
de  Nogaret,  to  arrest  the  Pope,  who  was  at 
Anagni  preparing  ban  and  interdict  against 
the  sinful  land  and  its  King.  Boniface  suc- 
ceeded in  escaping,  and  in  returning  to  Rome, 
but  succumbed  a  few  weeks  later  (October  11, 
1303),    to    the     disease    from    which    he    had 


126  The  Papacy 

long  been  suffering.  It  is  said  that  in  an 
attack  of  fever  he  beat  his  head  against  the 
wall. 

We  shall  hardly  be  guilty  of  exaggeration  if 
we  call  the  Bull  "  Unam  Sanctam "  the  swan- 
song  of  the  supremacy  of  the  spiritual  power 
in  temporal  affairs.  Often  again,  it  is  true,  was 
it  preached  to  the  world,  but  it  failed  to  find 
the  faith  that  alone  could  make  it  a  living 
force.  And  the  great  Emperors'  dream  of  an 
universal  Christian  monarchy  was  also  at  an 
end.  Dante,  indeed,  broke  a  lance  for  the 
Empire  as  a  divine  institution,  but  even  in  him 
we  see  clearly  that  the  change  is  at  hand,  for 
it  is  not  from  the  Pope  but  from  the  people 
that  the  Emperor  receives  his  crown. 

When  we  turn  from  the  Bull  to  that  remark- 
able book  to  which  its  authors,  the  Paris  scholars 
Marsilius  of  Padua  and  John  of  Jandun,  gave 
the  title  of  "Defensor  Pacis"  ("The  Advocate 
of  Peace"),  we  can  gauge  the  extent  of  the 
change.  In  the  first  we  have  variations  on  a 
theme  suitable  for  any  period,  expressed  in 
hackneyed  catchwords ;  in  the  second  a  system 
of  thought,  constructed,  it  is  true,  out  of  old 
material,  but  set  forth  in  a  wholly  new  way. 
Marsilius  had  read  his  Aristotle  differently  from 
Thomas  Aquinas.  All  political  rights  belong  to 
the  people,  their  rulers  are  their  delegates  and 


The  Babylonian  Captivity    127 

are  answerable  to  them.  They  are  therefore  en- 
trusted with  extensive  powers,  and  the  Church 
especially  has  no  right  to  interfere.  In  so  far 
as  she  is  the  fellowship  of  the  faithful  she  has 
a  divine  and  supernatural  character,  but  she  is 
a  spiritual  institution  with  spiritual  powers. 
The  priest  opens  the  door  to  God ;  he  has  no 
right  of  judgment  on  earth,  nor  has  the  Pope 
any  such  right,  for  his  so-called  power  of  office 
rests  on  stolen  titles.  St.  Peter  was  not  above 
the  other  apostles,  and  all  bishops  are  successors 
of  the  apostles.  To  them,  therefore,  in  a  general 
council  in  which  laymen  are  also  called  to  take 
part,  it  belongs  to  decide  questions  that  are 
purely  questions  of  doctrine,  and  not  to  the 
Pope. 

When  in  1326  these  heretical  notions  were 
introduced  at  the  court  of  Louis  of  Bavaria — 
who  was  at  first  filled  with  horror  at  them, 
but  finally  accepted  them  with  reservations, 
impelled  thereto  by  considerations  of  eccle- 
siastical policy — Rome  had  already  been  without 
a  Pope  for  many  years.  The  second  successor 
of  Boniface,  Clement  V.  (1305-14),  had  in  1309 
transferred  his  court  to  Avignon,  which  belonged 
to  the  King  of  Naples  and  was  sold  in  1348  to 
the  Curia,  in  whose  possession  it  remained 
until  the  French  Revolution.  Clement  was 
wholly  dependent  on  the  King  of  France ;  the 


128  The  Papacy 

condemnation  of  the  Templars  (March  22,  1312), 
for  which  all  the  machinery  of  a  general  council 
was  employed,  was  the  worst  result  of  this 
dependence,  and  is  hard  to  justify  from  an 
ecclesiastical  point  of  view.  But  all  the  Avignon 
Popes  were  not  underlings,  least  of  all  John 
XXII.  (1316-34),  who  became  Pope  when  quite 
an  old  man,  and  only  resigned  the  tiara,  un- 
willingly enough,  at  the  age  of  ninety.  The 
papal  pretensions  with  which  he  angered  others 
besides  King  Louis,  the  stubbornness  with  which 
he  opposed  the  idealistic  theories  of  the  Fran- 
ciscan zealots,  and  last,  but  not  least,  his  theolo- 
gical arbitrariness,  procured  him  a  whole  host 
of  enemies  in  his  lifetime  and  injured  his 
memory  among  future  generations.  But  he 
was  decidedly  above  the  average  and,  if  nothing 
else,  was  a  living  proof  that  the  old  ideas  had 
not  yet  lost  all  their  efficacy.  Indeed,  the 
Avignon  Popes  in  general  were  much  better 
than  their  reputation,  and  their  reputation 
itself  would  be  much  better  if  the  disparity 
between  their  pretensions  and  their  external 
situation  had  not  continually  urged  them  to 
doubtful  actions.  They  needed  money,  and  not 
knowing  how  to  get  it  honestly,  they  stole  it. 
As  early  as  the  reign  of  Innocent  III.  loud 
protests  had  been  raised  against  the  greed  of 
the  Curia.     A  French  chronicler  calls  the  Pope 


The  Babylonian  Captivity    129 

the   most  insatiable   of    mortals,   and   Walther 
von  der  Vogelweide  raged  in  noble  indignation 
against  the  "  Stock  "  *  which  the  Pope  had  sent 
into    Germany   to    procure    him    money.      The 
great  Pope's  whole  manner  of  living  defended 
him    from    the    personal    attacks    which    were 
levelled  at  him.     But  if  a  man  desires  to  rule 
over  kings  and   peoples  he  cannot  do  without 
money.      At     Avignon     in     the     "  Babylonian 
captivity"  there  was  indeed  but  little  question 
of  ruling,  but  the  thirst  for  power  remained, 
and  prudent  men  would  naturally  think  of  the 
future,   which   might    bring  better   days.      The 
fatal  thing,  however,  was  that  general  interests 
gave  way  more  and  more  to  personal  ones  and 
to  those  family  interests  which  may  be  summed 
up  in  the  word  "Nepotism."     Fatal  also  were 
luxury    and    that    corruption    inevitably    con- 
nected    with     court-life,     in     which     men     are 
dependent  on  the  goodwill  of  a  crowd  of  base 
hirelings.      It    is    difficult    to    know    which    to 
admire  most — the  capacity  shown  for  inventing 
new    taxes,    the    skill   with    which    they   were 
collected,  or  the  good-nature  of  those  who  paid 
them.     Hundreds  of  thousands  of  pounds  thus 
flowed  to  Avignon  year  in  year  out — occasional 
dues  for  the  consecration  of  bishops,  the  income 

'■"  Stock  (OpferstocJi-),  the  money-box  in  which  the  offerings 
of  the  faithful  are  collected. 


130  The  Papacy 

of  livings  that  were  skilfully  kept  vacant,  above 
all  the  firstfruits  (annats),  i.e.,  the  dues  payable 
to  the  Curia  from  the  first  year's  revenues  of 
newly  appointed    bishops   and    abbots.     Those 
immediately  liable  to  taxation  naturally  enough 
took  it  out  of  their  subjects,  for  they,  too,  were 
rulers  and  wished  to  live  up  to  their  position. 
So  taxation  increased  and  with  it  exasperation. 
This  scandalous  state  of  affairs  became  still 
worse  when,  after  the  removal  of  Gregory  XI. 
to  Rome  (1377),  and  partly  through  the  fault  of 
his  impolitic  successor.  Urban  VI.  (1378-89),  that 
dual   Papacy  was   created   which   lasted   for  a 
generation.     There  was  one  Pope  in  Rome  and 
another  at  Avignon.     The  people  were  divided 
as    to   whom    they   should    recognise,    and    the 
revenues  were  divided  also.     Without  any  con- 
sideration   for    religious    feeling,    Boniface    IX. 
(1389-1404)    increased    the    taxes    paid    by  the 
countries  that  acknowledged  him  to  the  point 
of   extortion,   knocked   down   vacant   offices   to 
the    highest   bidders   after   he   had    taken    the 
money  of  those  who  bid  less,  and  thus  acquired 
such  large  means  that  he  became  an  ally  whom 
the  King  of  Naples,  harassed  by  France,  could 
not  afford  to  despise. 

But  at  the  same  time  preparations  were  being 
made  in  France  to  put  an  end  to  this  unedifying 
state  of  affairs.    The  University  of  Paris  became 


The  Babylonian  Captivity    131 

the  centre  of  these  efforts.  Men  like  Henry  of 
Langenstein,  Pierre  d'Ailly,  Jean  Charlier  de 
Gerson,  and  Nicholas  de  Clemanges  awakened 
public  opinion.  King  Charles  VI.,  who  at  that 
time  had  one  of  his  lucid  moments,  gave  his 
approval  in  1394  to  an  academic  opinion  that 
suggested  three  ways  for  doing  away  with  the 
schism — voluntary  abdication  by  both  Popes 
and  a  fresh  election,  a  court  of  arbitration,  and 
a  general  council.  The  two  first  ways  did  not 
attain  the  aim  in  view.  The  suggestion  of  a 
court  of  arbitration  seems  hardly  to  have  been 
considered,  and  neither  of  the  Popes  cared  to 
abdicate  so  long  as  he  was  not  sure  whether 
his  rival  would  do  the  same.  When,  then,  after 
the  death  of  Clement  of  Avignon,  the  Cardinals, 
in  spite  of  their  having  repeatedly  declared  that 
they  would  do  everything  to  end  the  schism, 
elected  another  Pope  in  the  person  of  Benedict 
XIII.,  the  French  Government  lost  patience. 
It  refused  to  recognise  Benedict,  but  it  had  no 
wish  to  accept  the  Roman  Pope  either,  and  for 
several  years  the  French  Church  was  managed 
by  the  State — a  sort  of  State  Catholicism  which 
proved  impossible  as  a  permanency. 

Thus  only  the  last  of  the  three  ways  was  left. 
The  demand  for  a  general  council  was  becoming 
louder  and  louder  and  had  long  since  passed  the 
borders    of    France.     The    time   was    ripe    for 


132  The  Papacy 

reform.  The  progressives  were  no  longer  con- 
tent merely  to  restore  the  single  headship  of 
the  Church  in  the  person  of  one  Pope  only; 
they  wished  to  use  this  opportunity  to  put 
the  Papacy  under  the  control  of  the  Church. 
"  Reformatio  ecclesise  in  capite  et  membris  " — 
the  reform  of  the  Church  in  head  and  members — 
inasmuch  as  the  corruption  from  above  had 
gone  down  lower  and  lower,  became  the  oft- 
repeated  catchword.  If  England  showed  the 
way,  and  if  English  ideas  were  adopted  by  the 
French  politicians,  it  was  France  that  took 
decisive  action.  Immense  significance  lay  in 
the  fact  that  in  May,  1408,  the  appointment 
to  benefices  in  the  French  Church  and  the 
taxation  of  the  clergy  by  the  Pope  were 
declared  illegal.  This  Gallicanism,  or,  to  speak 
more  generally,  the  principle  of  the  independ- 
ence of  national  churches  as  regards  Papal 
influence,  remained  the  order  of  the  day  in 
discussions  on  Church  politics. 

The  Council  of  Pisa,  which  met  in  March, 
1409,  was  a  new  departure  in  the  history  of 
church  assemblies,  inasmuch  as  not  only  cardinals 
and  patriarchs,  bishops  and  abbots,  as  well  as 
envoys  of  the  temporal  powers,  but  also  the 
representatives  of  theological  and  canonistic 
learning,  met  together  to  deliberate.  Academic 
ideas  dominated  the  assembly.    They  culminated 


The  Babylonian  Captivity    133 

in  the  thesis  that  the  Church  as  represented  by  the 
council  had  the  right  to  impeach  and  depose  an 
unworthy  Pope.  This  claim  was  actually  made 
good.  It  is  true  that  the  Popes  did  not  appear 
when  cited,  but  they  were  condemned  in  their 
absence,  and  on  June  5th  the  people  assembled 
in  the  cathedral  were  informed  that  Peter  de 
Luna,  otherwise  known  as  Benedict  XIII.,  and 
Angelus  Corrarius,  otherwise  known  as  Gregory 
XII.,  were  deprived  of  their  dignity,  as  schis- 
matics, heretics,  and  perjurers,  and  that  all 
Christians  were  forbidden  to  obey  them  on  pain 
of  excommunication.  A  new  Pope  was  elected 
in  the  person  of  Alexander  V.  Benedict  and 
Gregory,  however,  did  not  give  up  their  position, 
and  as  the  countries  not  under  French  influence 
did  not  withdraw  their  obedience  from  the 
Popes  whom  they  had  previously  acknowledged, 
there  resulted  that  state  of  affairs  which  has 
been  sarcastically  called  the  "  Papal  Trinity." 
Thus  the  resolutions  of  the  Council  of  Pisa 
had  no  effect. 

The  confusion  seemed  thus  to  have  reached 
its  highest  pitch,  when  personal  considerations 
increased  it  still  further,  and  this  time  to  an 
intolerable  degree.  Alexander  enjoyed  his  doubt- 
ful position  for  a  few  months  only.  In  May, 
1410,  he  was  succeeded  by  the  man  who  was 
suspected  of  having  poisoned  him.     To  attempt 


134  The  Papacy 

to  whitewash  John  XXIII.  would  be  a  thank- 
less task.  "  He  had  no  conscience,  but,  instead, 
so  happy  a  temperament  and  a  disposition  so 
cheerful — not  to  say  childlike  —  that  in  the 
midst  of  his  misdeeds,  the  phantoms  of  which 
in  no  way  disturbed  his  slumbers,  he  woke  up 
each  morning  in  better  spirits  than  when  he  had 
gone  to  bed."  At  the  same  time,  the  long  list 
of  atrocities  of  which  he  was  accused  by  the 
Council  of  Constance  must  not  blind  us  to  the 
fact  that  this  John — perhaps  not  without  reason 
the  last  Pope  of  his  name — was  an  unusually 
talented  and  by  no  means  insignificant  man. 
Under  different  conditions  he  might  possibly 
have  accomplished  great  things.  As  matters 
were,  however,  the  result  of  his  notorious 
iniquities  was  to  strengthen  the  opposition 
against  the  Papacy  all  along  the  line  and  to 
make  it  victorious.  What  the  Council  of  Pisa 
had  failed  to  accomplish  it  became  the  task  of 
the  Council  of  Constance  to  attempt  once  more. 
Never  before  had  a  general  council  taken 
place  in  a  German  city.  King  Sigismund  had 
carried  his  point  with  John — whom  he  had 
recognised  shortly  after  his  election — as  to  the 
convocation  of  this  assembly,  and  hoped  to 
obtain  far-reaching  results  from  it.  Not  only 
were  church  questions  of  the  widest  range  to 
be    settled,    but    political    questions    also :     for 


The  Babylonian   Captivity    135 

instance,  the  ending  of  the  war  between  Eng- 
land and  France  was  a  subject  of  serious  con- 
sideration. The  event  that  lingers  most  in  our 
memory,  the  trial  of  Huss,  was  probably  the 
subject  of  least  interest  to  the  King  and  even 
to  the  prelates  and  theologians.  Indeed,  the 
ideas  of  church  reform  current  among  the 
theologians  in  the  council  had  no  reference  to 
questions  of  dogma.  It  was  quite  natural  to 
them  to  condemn  the  memory  of  Wyclif,  the 
socialistic  heretic,  even  apart  from  any  question 
of  courtesy  towards  the  English  Government; 
and  it  was  self-evident  that  Huss  must  die,  in 
spite  of  the  so  often  misunderstood  letter  of 
safe-conduct,  after  he  had  once,  for  conscience 
sake,  acknowledged  his  acceptance  of  the  Eng- 
lishman's tenets.  It  was  impossible  to  foresee 
what  political  consequences  would  result  from 
the  exasperation  caused  in  Bohemia  by  the 
burning  of  Huss,  and  even  had  they  been 
foreseen  the  decision  would  hardly  have  been 
influenced  thereby. 

The  central  interest  of  this  church  parliament, 
with  its  commissions,  its  party  meetings,  and 
its  plenary  sittings,  conducted  in  accordance 
with  standing  orders  quite  different  from  those 
hitherto  customary,  was  the  "  reform  of  the 
Church  in  head  and  members."  We  have  only 
to  consider  it  in  so  far  as  it  affected  the  "  head." 


136  The  Papacy 

For  the  first  few  months  John  enjoyed  all  the 
honours  of  a  recognised  Pope.  At  the  first 
public  session  of  the  council,  on  November  16, 
1414,  he  presided,  and  he  opened  the  second  on 
March  2,  1415,  by  celebrating  High  Mass.  In 
this  very  session,  however,  he  had  to  read  the 
document  in  which  he  resigned  his  office,  pro- 
vided his  rivals  did  the  same.  That  he  was  in 
earnest  may  reasonably  be  doubted,  in  spite  of 
his  oaths  and  assurances.  In  any  case,  he  fled 
from  Constance  three  weeks  later,  and  from 
Schaffhausen  sent  word  to  Sigismund  that  he 
had  no  intention  of  abdicating.  The  council 
almost  fell  to  pieces  over  the  'jubject ;  but  the 
Emperor  rode  through  the  town  and  caused  it 
to  be  announced  that  every  one  must  remain 
till  the  reforms  were  completed.  It  became 
necessary  to  declare  solemnly  in  a  public  sitting 
(April  6,  1415)  that  the  council  had  the  right 
to  continue  to  sit  even  without  the  Pope  and 
without  prejudice  to  its  authority.  Then  began 
the  trial  of  John,  which  ended  with  his  deposi- 
tion on  May  29.  A  few  months  afterwards 
Gregory  XII.  abdicated  of  his  own  accord,  but 
Benedict  XIII.  was  not  to  be  prevailed  upon 
to  withdraw.  Nothing  remained  but  to  isolate 
him.  Sigismund  did  not  shrink  from  the  long 
journey  necessary  to  persuade  Spain  to  abandon 
the  Pope.    When  the  political  position  allowed 


The   Babylonian  Captivity    137 

of  it,  Benedict  also  was  formally  deposed  (July 
26,  1417),  and  Martin  V.  (1417-31)  was  elected 
Pope  by  the  Conclave,  in  which  not  only 
cardinals  took  part,  but  also  delegates  of  the 
nations  represented  at  the  council. 

With  remarkable  skill  the  Pope  broke  up  the 
unity  of  the  assembly  by  treating  with  each 
nation  separately,  making  a  concordat  with 
each,  and  he  thus  rescued  for  the  Papacy  all 
that  could  be  rescued.  Naturally,  this  could 
not  be  done  without  substantial  concessions  : 
the  excesses  of  the  papal  fiscal  and  judicial 
systems  were  reduced  to  tolerable  dimensions. 
Nevertheless,  the  Curia  obtained  what  was 
essential  to  it :  the  definite  stipulation  of  cer- 
tain important  rights  which  would  serve  as  a 
starting-point  for  others  when  circumstances 
became  more  favourable.  Of  real  reform  either 
in  "  head  "  or  "  members  "  there  was  no  question. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  the  reform  party 
were  not  satisfied  with  this  result,  and  all  the 
less  because  the  Pope  and  his  court  on  their 
return  to  Rome  by  no  means  kept  within 
reasonable  limits,  but  provoked  the  earnest- 
minded,  as  well  as  the  Pharisees,  by  their 
barefaced  extortions.  At  that  time  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Knights  of  the  Teutonic  Order  in 
Rome  wrote  to  his  superior:  "Dear  master,  send 
me  money,  for  at  this  court  all  friendship  ceases 


138  The  Papacy 

when  the  cash  is  gone,"  and  Canon  Hemmerlin 
of  Ziirich  complained  that  "Benefices  were  sold 
in  Rome  as  publicly  as  pigs  in  the  market." 
Nor  was  it  the  misdeeds  of  the  Curia  only  that 
kept  up  the  agitation,  but  the  general  condition 
of  the  Church  and  the  world.  Before  the  elec- 
tion of  the  new  Pope  at  Constance  a  resolution 
had  been  passed,  couched  in  unctuous  terms,  to 
the  effect  that  such  general  assemblies  should 
take  place  regularly  at  certain  fixed  intervals, 
and  Martin  had  been  bound  over  to  this  arrange- 
ment. He  kept,  indeed,  to  the  letter  of  it,  but 
the  first  assembly  in  Siena  did  nothing.  Yielding 
to  the  pressure  of  those  who  looked  to  parlia- 
mentary deliberations  for  the  solution  of  all 
difficulties,  he  summoned  a  new  council  at  Bale 
in  1431,  but  died  before  it  met. 

The  Council  of  Bale  (1431-49)  has  been  com- 
pared with  the  great  assemblies  of  the  French 
Revolution,  and  there  are  certainly  many 
points  of  resemblance.  Anyhow,  it  meant  the 
uncompromising  introduction  of  democratic 
principles  into  the  government  of  the  Church 
and  the  negation  of  all  authority.  Any  cleric 
was  welcome  as  a  member  of  the  assembly, 
if  he  had  passed  the  easy  test  of  the  election 
committee,  and  no  one  troubled  about  Pope  or 
cardinal,  bishop  or  archbishop.  There  was  a 
time  when  the  efforts  of  the  council,  as  later 


The  Babylonian  Captivity    139 

those  of  the  French  revolutionaries,  were 
approved  of  enthusiastically  by  all  progressive 
minds.  This  was  during  the  years  in  which 
reforms  were  seriously  undertaken,  and  provi- 
sions, expectatives,  annats,  and  kindred  eccle- 
siastical excrescences  were  cut  away,  and  in 
which  France  adopted  the  decrees  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Bale  as  the  law  of  the  State  in  the 
"  Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Bourges  "  (1438),  while 
a  German  Imperial  Diet  recognised  the  reforms 
in  the  "Acceptation  of  Mayence"  (1439).  Later 
on,  however,  not  only  did  those  in  authority 
become  alarmed,  but  many  a  man  who  thought 
more  of  his  advancement  than  of  his  princi- 
ples, sought  shelter  with  the  leaders  of  Church 
and  State,  though  it  vexed  him  to  be  unable 
to  dabble  in  revolution.  Finally,  when  the 
radicals  and  demagogues  gained  the  upper 
hand  and  a  kind  of  Reign  of  Terror  ensued — 
only  without  the  guillotine — the  "Bale  Fathers" 
lost  the  last  remnant  of  the  sympathy  which 
they  had  inspired,  and  the  hopes  which  had 
been  placed  in  church  parliamentarianism  died 
away. 

From  the  first,  the  council  had  given  its  close 
attention  to  the  Pope's  affairs.  It  worked  out 
a  kind  of  rule  for  him,  and  regulated  his  life 
even  in  small  details.  In  June,  1438,  however, 
it    deposed    Martin's     successor,    Eugenius    IV. 


140  The  Papacy 

(1431-47),  who  was  not  disposed  to  dance  to 
their  piping.  It  did  him  no  harm,  for  there 
was  no  possibility  of  carrying  out  the  sen- 
tence. Moreover,  when  the  council  passed  the 
decree  it  had  degenerated  into  a  sort  of  Rump 
Parliament.  As  early  as  March,  1437,  a  strong 
minority,  headed  by  the  ecclesiastical  digni- 
taries, who  did  not  agree  with  this  funda- 
mental opposition  to  the  Papacy,  had  left  Bale, 
and  with  them  Eugenius  was  able  to  form  a 
rival  council,  first  at  Ferrara  and  afterwards 
at  Florence.  This  council  is  only  noteworthy 
for  its  not  very  successful  negotiations  towards 
a  union  with  the  Greek  Church.  All  things 
considered,  the  last  years  of  Eugenius's  ponti- 
ficate brought  the  turn  of  the  tide.  The 
witches'  cauldron  ceases  to  boil,  the  bubbling 
stops,  the  steam  clears  away,  and  we  see  once 
more  the  old  picture  of  a  triumphant  Papacy. 
But  this  time  the  picture  has  a  different 
frame. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  POPES  AS  PATRONS  OF  THE  FINE  ARTS 

ANEW  era  had  just  risen  over  Italy.  As 
early  as  the  year  1300  a  flush  of  dawn 
had  heralded  it.  Any  one  who  has  studied 
Giotto's  pictures,  has  been  moved  by  the  songs 
of  Jacopone  and  the  great  poem  of  Dante, 
and  has  felt  the  influence  of  the  architecture 
of  their  time,  can  realise  the  importance  for 
early  Italian  art  of  the  religious  revival 
brought  about  by  the  Saint  of  Assisi.  When, 
however,  the  heavenly  orb  rose  high  in  the 
sky  and  sent  its  rays  over  the  whole  land,  it 
was  seen  that  yet  other  sources  of  light  were 
stored  up  within  it :  the  wealth  of  the  ancients 
streamed  out  in  dazzling  brilliance ;  learning 
and  art  awoke  to  new  and  independent  life. 

Immediately  there  was  a  division  of  minds. 
To  some  men  Christianity,  in  the  light  of  this 
sun,  seemed    of   inferior  value,    something   out 

of    date,   if    not   a  wandering   from    the    true 

141 


142  The  Papacy- 

path.      Back     to    the    gods    of    Olympos    was 
their   cry  ;   let   Zeus   be    enthroned  once  more. 
Back  also  to  the  philosophy  of   Plato   and  the 
other  great  minds  which  had  been  forgotten  in 
the  monkish  wisdom  of  the  theologians.     Others 
judged   differently.     They  sought  to  refine  the 
"  holy  treasure  of  Plato  "  like  gold  in  the  cru- 
cible, to  fit  it,  in   a   different   setting,  into  the 
crown  of   their   religion,  and   thus  to  reconcile 
the  classic  with  the  Christian  spirit,  which  for 
them  also  had   become   too  narrow.     All,  how- 
ever, were    agreed    that   the   world  was  not  to 
be  looked    upon    as    "  a   vale   of    tears,    which 
the   Pope    and    the    Emperor    must    guard    till 
the   coming    of    Antichrist,"    but   as   the   place 
in  which  the    Divine    Spirit   worked  itself  out, 
preparing  for   mankind  a  glorious  lot  even  on 
earth.     The   consummation   of   this   blessedness 
was    hoped  for   in    other   spheres,   without   the 
conduct  of  life  on  earth  being  made  dependent 
upon  it.     In  this   garden  of  God  there  bloomed 
Art,  the  most  beautiful  of  all  flowers.     Almost 
untouched   by   the   intellectual   conflict   around 
them,   bathed   in   heavenly   light,    her   disciples 
wandered  on  soft  paths  like  blessed  spirits. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  transfor- 
mations in  the  history  of  the  Church  that 
when  the  Papacy  began  slowly  to  recover 
from   its    severe    defeat    it    also    took   on   the 


Popes  as  Patrons  of  Fine  Arts   143 

new  spirit  of  art  and  learning,  and  gained  a 
new  right  to  the  admiration  of  the  faithful. 
After  a  while,  however,  succumbing  to  the 
sweetness  of  the  temptation,  it  forgot  for  a 
time  its  lofty  apostolic  mission  under  the  magic 
of  the  new  forces. 

Without  suspecting  to  what  a  dangerous 
height  his  successors  would  climb,  Nicholas  V. 
(1447-55)  stepped  on  to  the  giddy  path.  His 
gentle  spirit  hovers  over  the  devout  frescoes 
with  which  Fra  Giovanni  of  Fiesole,  the 
Angelic,  whom  the  Church  reckons  among  her 
beatified,  decorated  the  papal  bedchamber  in 
the  Vatican.  As  a  young  man  he  had  said, 
"  I  would  like  to  spend  all  my  money  on 
books  and  buildings " ;  and  as  Pope  he  carried 
out  his  wish.  He  was  the  real  founder  of  the 
Vatican  library,  which  at  his  death  contained 
more  than  a  thousand  manuscripts  and  the 
greatest  number  of  books  that  any  library 
could  boast.  He  summoned  many  distin- 
guished scholars  to  Rome,  and  entrusted  them 
with  literary  work,  especially  with  translations 
from  the  Greek.  Among  them  were  men  like 
Laurentius  Valla,  who  discovered  the  spurious- 
ness  of  the  Donation  of  Constantine  and  other 
old  ecclesiastical  documents,  and  who  would 
have  fallen  a  victim  to  the  Inquisition  if  he 
had  not  been  supported  by  the  Pope  and  pro- 


144  The  Papacy 


tected  by  the  King  of  Naples.  Nicholas  not 
only  began  to  make  Rome  more  habitable, 
and  supplied  the  town  with  water,  but  he 
also  conceived  the  gigantic  plan  for  the  re- 
construction of  the  Leonine  city,  the  Vatican 
and  St.  Peter's,  and  thus  gave  the  impulse  to 
the  erection  of  monuments  which  were  to 
employ  hundreds  of  artists  and  astonish  the 
world.  He  did  all  this  from  a  proud  convic- 
tion that  the  capital  of  Christendom  must 
look  what  it  was :  "  Only  through  the  great- 
ness of  what  they  see  can  the  weak  be 
strengthened  in  their  faith." 

It  was  the  prelude  to  a  magnificent  spec- 
tacle that  grew  more  and  more  imposing  from 
act  to  act. 

^neas  Silvius  Piccolomini,  who  had  given  up 
a  frivolous  life,  and  who,  as  Pope,  took  the 
name  of  Pius  II.  (1458-64)  not  from  Pius  I.,  but 
from  the  "  plus "  ^neas  of  Virgil,  was  himself 
a  many-sided  man  of  letters.  But  he  kept  a 
close  watch  over  his  purse  so  that  the  Humanists 
complained  that  they  did  not  get  their  due ; 
and  what  he  did  do  for  art  benefited  his  native 
town  of  Siena  rather  than  Rome.  Paul  II. 
(1464-71)  may  not  have  been  a  "  hater  of 
learning,"  as  he  has  commonly  been  depicted ; 
but  he  was  no  enthusiast  for  it.  Sixtus  IV.  (1471- 
84)  was  the  first    really  to  add   to  the  legacy 


Popes  as  Patrons   of  Fine   Arts    145 

left  by  the  Humanist  Pope.  It  was  he  who 
transferred  the  Vatican  library  to  new  rooms 
and  allowed  free  access  to  its  treasures.  He 
encouraged  the  building  of  churches,  and 
went  on  with  what  Nicholas  had  planned  and 
suggested  for  the  beautifying  of  the  city.  But 
it  was  painting  especially  that  benefited  by  the 
favour  of  the  Pope.  Under  him  Melozzo  da 
Forli  painted  his  Ascension,  the  lost  beauty  of 
which  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  wonderful 
angels'  heads,  while  Botticelli,  Signorelli,  Ghir- 
landajo,  Pinturicchio,  and  Perugino  decorated 
the  walls  of  the  chapel  in  the  Vatican  (called 
Sistine  after  him)  with  those  representations 
of  the  history  of  Moses  and  the  Saviour,  the 
Olympian  calm  of  which  stands  out  in  such 
solemn  contrast  to  the  Titanic  figures  of  Michael 
Angelo,  their  later  rival  in  this  place. 

In  spite,  however,  of  all  these  great  works, 
Rome  was  not  really  the  centre  of  intellectual 
life  at  this  period.  Florence  exercised  the 
greatest  power  of  attraction.  Cosimo,  the  great 
merchant,  and  even  more  his  grandson  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent,  who  ruled  the  Republic  from 
14:69,  won  undying  fame  for  their  native  city, 
and  at  the  same  time  added  lustre  to  their 
own  house.  In  the  Medici  gardens  the  members 
of  the  Platonic  Academy  engaged  in  brilliant 
conversation  on  the  writings    of  their  master. 

10 


146  The   Papacy 

It  was  the  Medici  who  gave  employment  to 
skilful  hands,  and  afforded  an  outlet  for  the 
artistic  conceptions  which  found  immortal 
expression  in  architecture,  sculpture,  and  paint- 
ing. But  after  the  death  of  Lorenzo  (1491) 
and  with  the  fall  of  his  house  (1494)  this 
supremacy  passed  from  Florence  to  Kome, 
where  it  long  remained. 

The  services  of  Innocent  VIII.  (1484-92)  and 
Alexander  VI.  (1492-1503)  to  the  fine  arts 
were  but  insignificant,  and  one  must  be  very 
apologetically  minded  to  mention  them  at  all. 
All  the  greater  appeared  the  outburst  under 
Julius  II.  (1503-13).  He  was  the  Maecenas  of 
Bramante,  Michael  Angelo,  and  Raphael.  It 
was  he  who  set  tasks  for  these  great  men ; 
for  him  Bramante  drew  the  plans  of  the 
new  cathedral  of  St.  Peter ;  for  him  Raphael 
gave  sensuous  form  to  the  intellectual  life  of 
mankind  at  that  period  under  the  symbols  of 
theology,  poetry,  philosophy,  and  jurisprudence  ; 
at  his  command  Michael  Angelo  painted  the 
ceiling  of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  and  the  Pope 
would  not  let  him  go  till  he  had  completed 
the  work.  On  the  other  hand,  Leo  X.  (1513-21), 
the  son  of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  who  as 
Cardinal  Medici  had  made  his  villa  on  the 
Pincian  Hill  the  social  centre  of  the  artists 
and    men    of    letters,    wished    only    to    enjoy 


Popes  as   Patrons  of  Fine  Arts    147 

not  to  stimulate.  Even  Raphael's  colour  was 
little  more  to  him  than  decoration,  and 
Buonarotti's  strong  arm  remained  idle  under 
him.  The  easy  elegance  of  the  Humanists  of 
his  court  tickled  the  Pope's  refined  intellect  as 
the  exquisite  dishes  which  came  in  extravagant 
profusion  to  his  table  tickled  his  fastidious 
palate.  The  patronage  of  this  Medici  Pope  did 
not  raise  art ;  on  the  contrary,  it  brought  it 
down  from  the  height  on  which  his  prede- 
cessor had  placed  it. 

But  we  are  not  concerned  with  art  only. 
We  can  no  longer  suppress  the  question,  What 
did  these  Popes  do  for  the  Church  ?  The  Lord 
had  bidden  His  Apostle  feed  His  sheep,  and  all 
the  great  Popes  had  acted  according  to  this 
charge.  Has  the  voice  been  silenced  ?  For 
the  answer  to  this  question  we  must  go  back 
once  more  to  the  time  of  the  councils. 

In  the  great  struggle  between  parliamen- 
tarianism  and  absolutism  the  former  had  been 
vanquished.  It  is  true  that  the  ideas  and 
aims  connected  with  it  never  disappeared  from 
the  consciousness  of  the  nations  and  their 
churches,  but  they  were  soon  pushed  into  the 
background  by  the  force  of  circumstances. 
This  was  least  the  case  in  France,  where  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Bourges  remained  in 
force    and    with    it    also   the   independence   of 


148  The  Papacy 

the  national  church  in  face  of  the  Papacy, 
episcopalism  in  face  of  papalism.  But  the 
strengthening  of  the  King's  absokite  power 
after  the  end  of  the  Hundred  Years'  War 
with  England  resulted  in  the  decline  of  papalism 
being  turned  to  the  advantage  of  the  crown ; 
the  Church  had  only  changed  masters.  This 
was  still  more  the  case  in  England,  where, 
moreover,  the  Curia  had  ceased  to  count  since 
the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It 
was  otherwise  in  Germany.  There  the  develop- 
ment, as  regards  the  influence  of  the  Curia, 
was  in  the  opposite  direction.  When  King 
Albert  II.  and  his  Electors  "  accepted "  the 
Bale  decisions  at  the  Diet  of  Mayence,  they 
left  no  doubt  that  the  will  of  the  temporal 
power  came  before  that  of  the  spiritual  power. 
But  Frederick  III.,  who  in  a  reign  of  nearly 
fifty-four  years  (1440-93)  did  more  injury  to 
German  interests  than  any  other  king,  acted 
very  differently  and  in  opposition  to  the 
majority  of  the  Electors.  With  the  short- 
sightedness of  the  finished  egoist  he  cared  only 
for  himself,  and  perhaps  also  for  his  dynasty  ; 
he  allowed  the  Pope  to  buy  from  him  a  decla- 
ration of  obedience,  and,  as  if  that  were  not 
enough,  he  let  himself  be  continually  tricked  by 
Eugenius  and  his  agents,  whose  diplomacy  did 
not  shrink  from  the  most  hazardous  intrigues. 


Popes  as  Patrons  of  Fine  Arts    149 

The  result  was  the  miserable  Concordat 
concluded  in  Vienna  (1448),  not  under  Eugenius 
but  under  Nicholas  V.,  and  made  a  law  of 
the  Empire  at  Aschaffenburg  (1449).  It  sur- 
rendered all  that  had  been  achieved  by  the 
councils,  and  gave  a  new  basis  of  legality  to 
the  abuses  of  reservations,  expectatives,  and 
provisions.  But  the  Curia  did  not  keep  even 
to  this,  A  new  theory  was  invented  and 
put  into  practice,  viz.,  that  the  nations  were 
bound  by  their  treaties  with  the  Pope,  but 
that  he  was  not  bound.  Naturally  the  opposi- 
tion to  such  a  presumptuous  claim  never  died 
out,  but  it  accomplished  nothing.  Archbishop 
Diether,  of  Mayence,  who  objected  to  the 
increased  rate  at  which  the  Curia  reckoned 
the  payment  due  on  his  taking  office,  and 
who  wished  to  obtain  justice  by  force  of  arms, 
was  deposed  by  Pius  II.  and  obliged  to  submit. 
The  full  wretchedness  of  the  situation,  how- 
ever, is  revealed  in  the  fact  that  in  1452 
Frederick  III. — the  last  German  Emperor  to 
be  crowned  in  Rome — received  the  crown  by 
favour  of  Pope  Nicholas. 

If  the  increased  power  of  the  Curia  may  be 
inferred  from  these  facts  alone,  it  may  well 
be  asked  whether  the  Papacy  realised  and 
acted  up  to  the  new  ecclesiastical  responsi- 
bilities   that    arose     out    of    this    power.     The 


150  The  Papacy 

question,  even  from  the  papalistic  point  of 
view,  can  only  be  answered  in  the  negative. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  period  in  the 
annals  of  papal  history  which,  while  outwardly 
brilliant,  was  marked  by  so  absolute  a  lack 
of  sympathy  with  church  or  even  religious 
interests,  as  that  comprising  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
centuries.  In  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century  the  fall  of  Constantinople  and  the 
irresistible  advance  of  the  Turks  had  reminded 
Nicholas  V.  that  the  Pope  as  the  protector 
of  Christendom  was  called  upon  to  stir  up 
war  against  the  infidel.  His  successors,  Calixtus 
III.  and  Pius  II.,  were  also  in  earnest  with 
their  preaching  of  crusades,  and  Pius  had  even 
had  the  intention  of  placing  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  army  that  was  to  set  sail  from 
Italy,  when  he  was  overtaken  by  death  at 
Ancona.  This  last  gleam  of  idealism  finally 
flickered  out  with  the  reign  of  Paul  II.,  who 
also  failed  to  make  any  impression  worthy 
of  mention  in  church  politics.  Under  Sixtus  IV. 
the  evil  spirits  once  more  stretched  out  their 
hands  towards  the  Chair  of  Peter. 

Francesco  della  Rovere  came  of  a  family  in 
modest  circumstances.  Confided  as  a  boy  to 
the  care  of  the  Franciscan  Friars,  his  gifts  soon 
attracted  the  attention   of    his   superiors.      He 


Popes  as  Patrons  of  Fine  Arts   151 

became  popular  as  a  professor  in  several  Italian 
universities,  even  gaining  the  esteem  of  the 
Humanists,  and  was  finally  elected  General 
of  his  order.  No  one  could  have  expected 
that  the  worldliness,  that  was  to  reign  for 
half  a  century,  would  make  its  entrance  into 
the  Curia  under  this  man.  But  his  sisters' 
numerous  children,  who  all  migrated  to  Rome, 
crowded  round  him  and  wrung  one  dignity 
after  another  out  of  their  unworldly  uncle.  His 
efforts  to  raise  his  nephews  and  nieces  to  a  posi- 
tion that  would  put  them  on  a  level  with  other 
noble  families  drew  the  Pope  more  and  more 
into  the  vortex  of  Italian  territorial  politics, 
and  even  resulted  in  his  entanglement  in  the 
conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi  in  Florence,  to  which 
Lorenzo's  brother  Giuliano  fell  a  victim. 

Innocent  VIII.  owed  his  election  as  Pope 
to  the  influence  of  Giuliano  della  Rovere,  the 
future  Julius  II.,  who  was  still  obliged  to  curb 
his  ambition.  Giambattista  Cibo,  of  Genoa, 
had  not  foreseen  his  destiny,  and  had  spent 
his  youth  in  a  very  worldly  fashion.  The 
malicious  epigram  that  was  made  about  him — 

"  Eight  boys,  eight  girls  the  Pope  in  sinful  love 
Begat ;  thus  Rome  him  '  Father  '  rightly  calls  " — 

must  indeed  be  discounted  to  a  great  extent; 
the  only   two   children   known   to  be  his  were 


152  The  Papacy- 

born  before  he  became  priest.  Still  it  was  an 
extremely  unedifying  spectacle  that  the  Pope 
should  give  his  son  a  splendid  wedding  feast 
in  the  Vatican,  the  same  Pope  who  later 
kept  the  pretenders  to  the  Turkish  throne 
prisoners  in  the  same  palace,  and  allowed 
himself  to  be  highly  paid  for  his  services  as 
gaoler.  Besides  being  dejficient  in  higher 
culture.  Innocent  had  not  the  energy,  and  per- 
haps not  the  desire,  to  check  the  evil  that  was 
gaining  ground  in  the  Curia  ;  all  the  witnesses 
are  unanimous  that  bribery  and  corruption  held 
high  revel  under  him. 

This,  however,  is  not  the  only  reason  why 
his  pontificate  enjoys  such  a  sorry  fame.  In 
1484  Innocent  issued  the  famous  Witchcraft 
Bull.  Two  German  inquisitors,  Heinrich 
Kramers  (Institoris)  and  Jacob  Sprenger,  had 
addressed  a  complaint  to  Rome  because  their 
efforts  to  hunt  down  wizards  and  witches  and 
bring  them  to  justice  had  been  opposed  by  the 
people.  They  added  to  their  appeal  a  list  of 
the  chief  demoniacal  crimes.  The  Pope  repro- 
duced this  statement  in  his  Bull  without 
questioning  it.  It  would  be  unjust  to  reproach 
him  for  this ;  why  should  not  Innocent  share 
a  belief  held  by  thousands  who  were  far  wiser 
than  he  ?  Nor  can  he  be  blamed  for  regard- 
ing sorcery  and  witchcraft  as  deserving  of  the 


Popes  as  Patrons  of  Fine  Arts   153 

severest  punishment,  and  still  less  for  support- 
ing his  officials  in  his  capacity  of  supreme 
judge  and  safeguarding  their  authority.  It 
is  obvious  also  that  the  Bull  must  not  be  looked 
upon  as  an  infallible  doctrinal  pronouncement — 
there  was  no  question  of  such  a  thing  at  the 
time — nor  may  it  be  asserted  that  the  Pope 
raised  belief  in  witchcraft  to  a  dogma.  At 
the  same  time,  this  does  not  alter  the  fact 
that  this  Bull,  just  because  it  represented  the 
unretracted  judgment  of  the  highest  ecclesi- 
astical tribunal,  and  because  it  led  to  the 
compiling  of  the  "  Witches'  Hammer  "  ("  Malleus 
maleficarum  ") — the  abominable  handbook  for 
all  trials  for  witchcraft  during  the  next  few 
centuries — was  in  the  last  resort  the  cause 
of  terrible  suffering,  especially  in  Germany. 
But  to  make  the  Papacy  qua  Papacy  responsible 
for  that  is  absurd. 

As  if  Innocent  had  not  filled  up  the  cup, 
the  nephew  of  Calixtus  III.,  Roderigo  Borgia, 
who  had  shamelessly  bought  the  votes  of  his 
supporters,  now  ascended  the  papal  throne 
under  the  name  of  Alexander  VI.  He  had 
become  Cardinal  under  his  uncle,  and  had  all 
the  time  led  a  life  that  set  not  only  clerical  but 
all  morality  at  defiance.  As  Pope  also  he  gave 
free  rein  to  his  sensuality.  What  does  it  matter 
that  the  worst  things  imputed  to  him  are  at- 


154  The  Papacy 

tributable  to  exaggeration  or — like  his  relations 
with  his  daughter  Lucrezia — to  invention? 
Even  the  believing  Catholic  historian  has  to 
call  in  the  help  of  Providence  in  order  to  under- 
stand how  the  Church  did  not  fall  to  pieces 
under  such  a  rule  of  infamy.  Those  who  do 
not  adopt  this  attitude  are  content  to  remember 
that  even  the  Papacy  could  not  escape  the  curse 
of  the  "  Herrenmenschentum "  which  sprang 
from  abandonment  to  the  delights  of  culture 
and  absorption  in  the  things  of  this  world.  It 
is  one  of  the  bitterest  ironies  of  history  that 
this  vicegerent  of  God,  who  believed  in  nothing, 
except  perhaps  the  devil,  with  whom,  according 
to  popular  opinion,  he  had  made  a  pact,  should, 
by  virtue  of  his  office,  have  excommunicated 
Savonarola,  the  saintly  Dominican  who  with 
his  strange  prophetic  voice  called  Florence  back 
from  her  frivolous  enjoyment  of  life  to  piety 
and  grave  morals. 

Julius  II.  and  Leo  X.  were  also,  in  Nietzsche's 
term,  "  Herrenmenschen " — a  law  unto  them- 
selves— and  if  art,  like  a  sacrament,  had  not 
stamped  their  pontificate  with  an  ineffaceable 
character,  history  would  have  judged  them  more 
harshly.  Here,  again,  we  must  distinguish 
Giuliano  della  Rovere,  the  nephew  of  Sixtus  IV., 
was  an  extraordinary  man  in  every  respect.  It 
was  no  wonder  that  he,  the  most  warlike  of  all 


Popes  as  Patrons  of  Fine  Arts   155 

the  Popes,  who  so  often  put  his  armour  on 
over  his  priest's  dress,  and  was  always  eagerly 
revolving  new  plans,  was  looked  upon  by  his 
contemporaries  as  "  terribile,"  i.e.,  as  a  "  super- 
man." He  can  no  more  be  judged  by  the 
standard  of  Christian  morals  than  can  any 
other  of  the  great  spirits  of  the  Renaissance, 
and  it  were  quite  in  vain  to  look  for  "  religious 
points  of  view  "  in  him.  Only  when  we  forget 
that  Julius  was  Pope,  do  we  get  a  correct  idea 
of  the  greatness  of  this  "  old  lion  with  the 
white  mane,"  as  Luther  disrespectfully  but  appo- 
sitely called  him,  and  realise  how  far  he  towered 
above  his  crowned  contemporaries,  the  Emperor 
Maximilian,  Louis  XII.  of  France,  and  others. 

In  the  age  of  Machiavellianism  it  should 
cause  no  surprise  that  his  policy  was  perfidious. 
He  aimed  higher  than  Alexander  VI.  and  Caesar 
Borgia,  who  played  havoc  with  the  nobility  of 
Italy,  and  laid  hands  upon  one  domain  after 
the  other  simply  to  increase  the  power  of  their 
house.  By  overthrowing  Ca3sar  and  adding  his 
spoils  to  the  papal  possessions  Julius  became 
the  founder  of  the  modern  States  of  the  Church, 
though  he  was  unable  to  establish  them  on  firm 
foundations.  With  his  diplomacy  and  his  cam- 
paigns he  entered  the  field  of  international 
politics.  He  was  fighting  for  papal  interests 
when  he  humbled  proud  Venice  who,  as  Machia- 


156  The  Papacy 

velli  said,  wished  to  make  the  Pope  her  chaplain. 
But  he  did  not  wish  for  the  destruction  of  the 
Republic  as  did  his  allies,  the  Kings  of  Germany 
and  France.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  in  this 
very  struggle — for  which  he  was  obliged  to  call 
in  foreign  help — that  his  honest  hatred  against 
"  Barbarian  rule "  came  to  a  head.  He  gave 
vent  to  this  hatred  shortly  after  by  opposing 
French  influence  in  Northern  Italy  through  his 
alliance  with  Venice  and  the  indispensable  Spain. 
It  was  not  without  good  reason  that  Francis  I., 
then  the  Dauphin,  said  that  he  had  had  no 
more  powerful  adversary  than  Julius  II.  :  in 
the  vicissitudes  of  these  wars,  which  sometimes 
brought  him  severe  defeats  and  reduced  him  to 
great  straits,  the  Pope  showed  himself  capable 
of  coping  with  the  most  difficult  of  situations. 

He  found  himself  in  such  a  situation  when 
the  Emperor  Maximilian  and  King  Louis  tried 
to  drive  him  into  a  corner  in  Church  matters. 
They  brought  up  again  the  almost  forgotten 
idea  of  a  council,  and  caused  an  assembly  to 
be  summoned  at  Pisa  in  May,  1511,  by  a  few 
cardinals  who  were  devoted  to  their  interests. 
At  this  council  arrangements  for  a  war  against 
the  Turks  were  to  be  concluded,  and  the  reform 
of  the  Church  in  "head  and  members"  was  to 
be  taken  in  hand  once  more.  When  at  mid- 
summer the  news  came  to  Germany  that   the 


Popes  as  Patrons  of  Fine  Arts   157 

Pope  lay  at  the  point  of  death,  Maximilian 
seriously  considered  whether  he  would  not  him- 
self take  the  tiara  and  so  unite  the  Empire  and 
the  Papacy  in  one  person.  But  Julius  did  not 
die.  On  the  contrary,  he  succeeded  in  inflicting 
a  signal  defeat  on  his  adversaries.  In  May, 
1512,  he  opened  the  seventeenth  ecumenical 
(or  the  eighteenth  if  the  Council  of  Constance 
is  counted)  and  fifth  Lateran  Council.  Every- 
thing united  to  make  this  assembly  triumphant. 
It  is  true  that  only  Italians  were  present,  but 
after  a  few  months  Julius  obtained  the  recog- 
nition of  his  council  by  the  great  powers, 
including  the  Emperor.  Thus  Louis  was  iso- 
lated, and  when  the  military  events  of  the 
summer  had  broken  the  political  supremacy  of 
France  in  Italy,  the  way  was  clear  for  an 
attempt  to  strike  a  decisive  blow  in  ecclesias- 
tical matters  also.  The  Pope  decided  that  the 
abrogation  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  should 
be  solemnly  proclaimed  by  the  council.  It  was 
in  the  preparatory  sitting  that  a  speech  was 
made,  in  the  presence  of  Julius,  to  the  effect 
that  the  Pope  must  be  all  in  all  "  like  a  second 
God  on  earth."  A  few  weeks  later,  in  the 
night  of  the  20th-21st  of  February,  1513,  he 
surrendered  to  a  Power  mightier  than  he, 
engrossed  in  ceaseless  plans  and  vigorous  action 
to  the  very  end. 


158  The  Papacy 

Nothing  of  the  mature  seriousness  of  Julius 
is  to  be  found  in  the  Medici  who  succeeded  him. 
Leo  X.'s  philosophy  of  life  is  expressed  in  the 
saying  "  Fortune  protects  those  who  are  born  to 
great  things."  From  a  superficial  point  of  view 
he  was  right.  He  was  lucky :  he  reaped  what 
his  predecessor  had  sown.  The  brilliant  success 
that  he  obtained  in  the  abandonment  of  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction  by  the  French  King  himself, 
and  in  the  conclusion  of  the  Concordat  of  1516, 
annulling  all  that  had  been  achieved  by  the 
reform  movement  for  the  French  Church,  was 
due  not  to  himself  but  to  the  fact  that  Francis 
I.,  menaced  by  England,  thought  it  ad\'isable  to 
give  way  to  the  Pope.  How  short-sighted  and 
how  little  interested  in  Church  affairs  Leo  was 
is  proved  by  the  negotiations  about  the  Con- 
cordat, which  left  far  greater  freedom  to  the 
Crown  than  the  Pope  ought  to  have  allowed. 
He  was  satisfied  with  Francis's  recognition  of 
the  council,  which  still  continued  to  sit,  and 
which,  with  an  express  reference  to  the  Bull 
"  Unam  Sanctum,"  again  gave  expression  in  a 
particularly  high-sounding  manner  to  the  papal 
claims  to  omnipotence.  The  Pope  did  not  allow 
his  god-like  security  to  be  disturbed  by  the 
storm  which  was  brewing  in  Germany,  and 
which  was  to  bend  those  pretensions  like  a  reed 
shaken    by    the   wind.     Even   Roman   Catholic 


Popes  as  Patrons  of  Fine  Arts    159 

historians  do  not  deny  the  fact  that  Leo's  pon- 
tificate "  was  disastrous  to  the  Papal  See  through 
the  wholesale  surrender  to  worldly  tendencies, 
and  to  the  dazzling  new  forms  of  civilisation,  as 
also  through  the  withdrawal  of  Church  interests 
into  the  background."  We  must  turn  to  Ger- 
many in  order  to  be  able  to  gauge  the  whole 
weight  of  the  blame  that  rests  upon  Leo  as  the 
successor  of  St.  Peter. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   GERMAN   REVOLUTION 

FOR  about  a  generation  past  Roman  Catholic 
historians  have  been  at  great  pains  to  set 
up  against  the  dark  and  gloomy  picture  which 
Protestant  historians  are  wont  to  draw  of  the 
German  Church  in  the  last  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century  and  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth, 
another  picture  in  which  the  bright  colours 
so  predominate  that  it  is  often  difficult  to  see 
any  dark  background.  Even  when  they  are 
willing  to  admit  that  all  is  not  bright,  they 
are  persuaded  that  Luther's  Reformation  is 
the  black  spot  that  disfigures  the  picture. 
This  reformation  is  stigmatised  as  an  insurrec- 
tion, a  revolution,  which  choked  up  the  source 
of  good  instead  of  helping  it  to  flow,  and 
fouled  the  fountain  instead  of  cleansing  it,  as 
a  sound  reform  would,  from  any  impurities 
that  might  be  visible  to  keen  eyes.  There  may 
be  a  difference  of   opinion   as   to   whether   the 


The  German  Revolution      i6i 

keen  eyes,  without  Luther,  would  ever  have 
been  opened  to  the  dangers  of  the  Church, 
but  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  storm  which 
after  1517  swept  over  Germany  with  elemental 
violence,  brought  with  it  nothing  of  what  had 
hitherto  been  understood  by  the  word  "refor- 
matio." It  was  a  "  rebellio,"  as  Leo  XIIL 
rightly  said  in  the  Canisius  Encyclical.  Luther 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt  against  the  one 
salvation-giving  Church,  and  it  would  not  be 
in  harmony  with  his  spirit  to  gloss  over  the 
fact.  It  is  only  on  the  question  whether  his 
revolt  was  productive  of  good  or  evil  that 
opinions  are  divided,  and  will  be  divided  to 
eternity. 

There  is,  however,  another  question  on  which 
we  can  pass  judgment.  Even  those  who  still 
look  upon  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  as  the 
mother  of  the  faithful  cannot,  if  they  have  any 
feeling  for  the  lessons  of  history,  shut  their 
eyes  to  the  fact  that,  at  this  critical  moment 
when  it  was  more  than  ever  a  question  of  "  to 
be  or  not  to  be,"  the  appointed  leaders  were 
weighed  and  found  wanting.  Let  us  imagine 
a  tribunal  composed  of  all  the  great  Popes  of 
many  centuries :  would  it  not,  if  the  Popes 
with  whom  we  have  just  been  dealing  had 
appeared  before  it,  have  been  forced  to  convict 
them  of  high  treason? 

11 


1 62  The  Papacy 

We  admire  the  fidelity  with  which  the  Ger- 
mans ckmg  to  their  Church,  but  we  can  also 
understand  the  wrath  that  filled  the  noblest 
in  the  land  in  face  of  the  yearly  increasing 
ruthlessness  of  the  papal  system  of  bleeding 
the  country.  It  has  been  said,  with  good 
reason  :  "  The  haggling  that  was  carried  on  in 
Rome  over  every  kind  of  benefice  reminds  one, 
in  its  variety  and  openness,  of  the  behaviour 
of  men  in  a  busy  exchange."  From  the  nume- 
rous examples  afforded  by  the  "presentation" 
to  ecclesiastical  positions,  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  we  select  the  best  known.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  see  of 
Mayence  became  vacant  three  times  in  ten 
years.  Each  time  the  vacancy  was  filled  some 
14,000  ducats  had  to  be  paid  to  Rome  as 
confirmation  dues  —  i.e.,  £15,000,  at  least,  in 
English  money.  When,  in  1514,  Albert  of 
Brandenburg  was  confirmed  in  his  appoint- 
ment as  Archbishop  of  Mayence  and  Magde- 
burg, and  Administrator  of  Halberstadt,  an 
additional  charge  of  10,000  ducats  was  de- 
manded for  the  holding,  illegal  in  itself, 
of  the  last-mentioned  office  together  with  the 
see  of  Mayence.  Thus  altogether  about 
£25,000  was  demanded.  Nor  was  that  all.  It 
was  the  Curia,  as  has  now  been  proved,  which 
proposed  to   the    Archbishop    to    cede    to  him 


The  German   Revolution     163 

the  sale,  in  his  dioceses,  of  the  indulgences  for 
the  finishing  of  St.  Peter's,  in  order  to  enable 
him  to  pay  off  the  debt  of  29,000  florins  which 
he  had  contracted  with  the  Fuggers,  the  largest 
German  bank  and  international  business  house, 
on  the  understanding  that  the  net  profits  were 
equally  divided  between  Rome  and  himself. 
Non-Catholics  can  remain  indifferent  to  the 
dispute  as  to  whether  this  affair  is  to  be 
described  as  simony  or  not,  in  the  canonical 
sense ;  it  was,  in  any  case,  as  Pastor  honestly 
admits,  "  an  extremely  discreditable  business 
on  both  sides." 

If  only  it  had  not  been  a  question  of  in- 
dulgences !  Those  who  have  any  understand- 
ing of  mediaeval  piety  can  appreciate  the  fact 
that  the  faithful  believed  fervently  that  they 
could  obtain  remission  of  punishment,  both  in 
this  world  and  in  the  next,  by  good  works  of 
all  kinds.  That  gifts  of  money  should  take 
the  place  of  these  good  works  was  a  con- 
venience that  was  easy  to  understand  so  long  as 
people  knew  that  their  money  was  helping  on 
a  good  cause — the  fitting  out  of  a  crusade,  for 
instance.  But  that  was  by  no  means  the  case 
now ;  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  money  drawn 
from  the  ever-increasing  number  of  indul- 
gences merely  went  to  the  insatiable  Roman 
Curia.     This   was   so   well   known   that  among 


164  The  Papacy 

the  "  grievances  of  the  German  nation "  which 
were  discussed  by  the  Diets  this  financial 
dependence  was  long  a  standing  subject  of 
deliberation.  To  this  was  added  the  know- 
ledge of  the  complete  indifference  with  which 
the  Popes  regarded  religion  and  Church  alike. 
Numberless  men  thought  like  Hutten,  who 
wrote : — 

"  The  tradesman  Julius  cheats  the  credulous  world : 
He  locks  up  heav'n,  which  he  possesses  not. 
Sell  what  is  thine,  0  Julius !  Shameless  'tis 
To  sell  to  others  what  thou  lack'st  the  most." 

Under  Leo  things  became  still  worse.  The 
extravagance  of  the  Medici  Pope,  who  threw 
away  with  both  hands  what  his  more  prudent 
predecessor  had  collected,  was  boundless.  The 
preparations  for  the  wedding  of  one  of  his 
nephews  cost,  it  is  said,  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  pounds ! 

Luther  was  indeed  right  when  he  said  in  his 
eighty-first  thesis  that  the  barefaced  sale  of 
indulgences  made  it  difficult  even  for  the  learned 
to  uphold  the  reverence  due  to  the  Pope  against 
his  detractors,  and  still  more  against  the  keen 
objections  of  the  laity.  Whatever  might  be 
thought  of  the  indulgence,  the  question  could 
not  but  be  asked  (Thesis  86):  "Why  does  the 
Pope,  whose  means  are  to-day  much  larger  than 


The  German  Revolution     165 

those  of  the  richest  merchant-prince,  not  build 
at  least  this  one  cathedral  to  St.  Peter  with 
his  own  money  rather  than  with  that  of  the 
faithful  poor  ?  "  Those  in  Rome  who  knew  the 
state  of  affairs  in  Germany  were  agreed  that 
the  bow  must  snap  if  it  were  bent  further. 
Jerome  Alexander,  perhaps  the  shrewdest  of 
all,  told  the  Pope  as  early  as  1516  that  thousands 
in  Germany  were  only  waiting  the  word  to  cry 
out  against  Rome. 

Leo  did  not  care.  He  went  hunting,  amused 
himself  with  music,  attended  very  unclerical 
plays  and  delighted  in  rich  banquets,  boisterous 
company,  and  doubtful  jests.  He  did  not  for  a 
moment  realise  the  tremendous  seriousness  of 
what  he  himself  called  "monks'  squabbles." 
What  a  world  of  difference  between  Luther  and 
Leo !  The  one,  sprung  from  the  soil  of  Thuringia, 
conservative  to  the  core,  severs  himself,  step 
by  step,  gasping,  with  bleeding  heart,  from  the 
Church  to  which  he  is  bound  by  a  thousand 
threads  of  belief  and  nationality ;  he  breaks  the 
yoke ;  erect,  carrying  his  head  high,  the  hero 
stands  there,  no  saint,  a  heretic  if  ever  there 
was  one,  and  yet  a  man  of  childlike  piety.  The 
other,  the  son  of  lighthearted  Florence, 
pampered  and  weakened  from  his  youth  by 
luxurious  pleasures  and  humanistic  trifling,  the 
vicegerent  of  God,  who  is  yet  reported  to  have 


1 66  The  Papacy 

said,  "It  is  known  on  all  sides  how  well  the 
fable  of  Christ  has  served  us  and  ours."  How 
naive  must  Luther's  sensibilities  have  been 
when,  in  the  autumn  of  1520,  with  all  he  knew 
and  after  all  his  experience,  he  felt  himself 
called  upon  to  appeal  to  this  Pope's  conscience 
"simply  out  of  honest  anxiety  and  as  in  duty 
bound." 

If  further  proof  were  needed  of  the  complete 
indifference  with  which  German  affairs  were 
treated  by  Rome,  a  glance  at  Luther's  trial 
would  be  sufficient.  The  interview  which 
Cardinal  Cajetan  had  with  Luther  in  October, 
1518,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Diet  at  Augsburg, 
left  no  doubt  as  to  what  was  to  be  expected 
from  this  "  brute  with  the  deep  eyes  and  strange 
fantasies."  In  November  Luther  appealed  to 
a  general  council.  At  Leipsic  in  the  summer 
of  1519  he  defended  the  thesis  that  the  primacy 
of  the  Roman  Church  depended  only  on  the 
"ice-like  decrees  of  the  Popes,"  while  the  text 
of  Scripture  and  the  authenticated  history  of 
more  than  a  thousand  years  were  against  it. 
But  the  year  1519  passed  without  any  serious 
action  being  taken  against  him.  It  was  not  till 
Dr.  Eck,  Luther's  able  and  learned  opponent — 
who  looked  upon  him  as  a  "heathen  and  a 
publican"  after  the  Leipsic  disputation— came 
to  Rome  and  with   his  intimate  knowledge  of 


The  German   Revolution      167 

the  dangerous  state  of  German  affairs  insisted 
on  energetic  measures,  that  the  matter  was 
taken  in  hand.  And  even  then  the  Bull  in 
which  Luther  was  threatened  with  excom- 
munication— the  same  that  he  consigned  to  the 
flames  on  December  10,  1520 — was  the  result  of 
a  compromise. 

It  is  true  that  the  Curia  could  not  do  what 
it  wished.  It  was  too  much  mixed  up  with 
political  intrigues  to  be  able  to  act  on  definite 
principles.  The  necessity  for  considering  the 
feelings  of  Frederick  the  Wise,  the  Elector  of 
Saxony,  was  especially  hampering.  The  first 
half  of  the  year  1519  was  taken  up  with  the 
great  question  as  to  who  should  succeed  Maxi- 
milian as  Emperor,  and  for  a  time  Frederick 
was  the  candidate  supported  by  the  Curia.  The 
state  of  feeling  in  Germany  also  made  it  very 
doubtful  whether  Luther  could  be  arraigned 
before  a  Roman  court.  However,  for  one  who 
is  interested  in  history  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  idea  of  the  Papacy,  all  that  is  beside  the 
mark.  The  Catholic  historian  is  right  when  he 
speaks  of  the  "  inexcusable  levity  "  of  the  Pope, 
who,  "when  Luther's  case  was  before  the  Diet  of 
Worms  and  numerous  monks  who  sympathised 
with  the  Wittenberg  professor  were  preparing 
to  break  their  vows  and  marry,  caused  flippant 
plays  in  which  this  subject  was  represented — 


1 68  The  Papacy 


nay,  almost  glorified — to  be  acted  before  him." 
During  the  Carnival  there  had  been  a  continual 
round  of  festivities  at  the  Castle  of  Sant'  Angelo, 
and  business  was  quite  put  on  one  side.  At  this 
very  time  the  Bull  issued  on  January  30th  was 
made  public  in  Germany — the  Bull  by  which 
Luther  and  his  followers  were  finally  cut  off 
from  the  Church.  It  is  no  wonder  that  Hutten 
wrote  to  Leo,  "  Thou  must  set  bounds  to  thine 
insolence  and  put  a  curb  on  these  childish, 
mischievous  Bulls." 

In  the  Brief  that  accompanied  the  Bull  the 
nuncios  were  exhorted  to  take  energetic 
measures  "against  all  stiff-necked  Lutherans, 
even  if  they  are  clad  in  electoral  dignity." 
Aleander,  to  whom  this  command  applied  in 
the  first  place,  welcomed  it,  but,  being  an 
intelligent  man,  he  must  have  questioned  its 
practicability.  The  reports  which  he  sent  to 
Rome  from  Worms,  and  which  are  among  the 
most  interesting  documents  of  the  early  Re- 
formation period,  are  expressed  in  unmistakable 
terms.  For  Aleander,  the  struggle  between 
Henry  and  Gregory  was,  compared  with  the 
present  one,  but  "violets  and  roses"  ("viole  e 
rose  "),  mere  child's  play.  He  is  sure  of  it ;  nine- 
tenths  of  Germany  are  shouting  "  Luther !  "  and 
the  remaining  tenth  at  least  "  Death  to  the 
Curia!"    That    is    naturally   not    due   to   pure 


The  German   Revolution     169 

enthusiasm  for  Luther's  religious  views,  even 
on  the  part  of  the  clergy.  "  All  these  are  by  no 
means  moved  because  they  have  understood 
much  of  the  principles  of  Luther's  doctrine — for 
it  is  only  his  diatribes  and  Hutten's  satires  that 
make  any  impression  on  them — but,  being 
already  exasperated  against  the  Roman  Church, 
they  entangle  their  faith  in  the  passions  which 
embitter  them  against  Rome,  and  let  it  be 
swallowed  up  in  their  hatred."  The  man  who 
wrote  this  knew  that  it  was  a  question  of  war 
to  the  bitter  end.  He  must  also  have  gnashed 
his  teeth  at  the  thought  that  the  first  battle  had 
been  lost  and  in  consequence  the  prospect  of 
victory  had  become  doubtful. 

Leo  died  on  December  1,  1521,  before  he  had 
completed  his  forty-sixth  year.  The  election  of 
his  successor,  Hadrian  VI.  (1522-23),  was  due  to 
embarrassment  on  the  part  of  the  Cardinals ; 
the  course  of  the  Conclave  gave  cause  for  fear 
that  they  would  not  agree  on  an  Italian.  For 
this  reason  the  Bishop  of  Tortosa,  who  was  not 
present,  was  elected.  He  was  a  Dutchman  by 
birth,  who  in  his  youth  had  been  professor  of 
philosophy  and  theology  at  Louvain,  and  then 
tutor  to  the  future  Emperor,  Charles.  When 
Charles  went  to  Germany  in  1520  he  left 
Hadrian — who  did  not,  as  usual,  change  his 
nam.e  when  he  became  Pope — as  his  regent  in 


170  The  Papacy 

Spain.  It  may  reasonably  be  doubted  whether 
the  Cardinals  had  a  clear  conception  of  the 
import  of  their  decision.  Hadrian,  the  last 
non-Italian  in  the  Apostle's  Chair,  was  the  exact 
opposite  of  his  predecessor  in  every  respect. 
Always  serious-minded  and  almost  ponderous, 
he  regarded  it  as  his  mission  to  make  an  end 
of  the  misdoings  of  the  Curia  and  to  attempt 
a  real  reform  in  the  Church  itself.  It  was  only, 
he  said,  in  order  to  restore  the  degraded  Bride 
of  Christ  to  her  purity  that  he  had  bowed  his 
neck  beneath  the  yoke  of  the  papal  dignity. 
The  stress  he  laid  on  the  religious  element  in 
the  doctrine  of  indulgences  made  Cajetan  fear 
lest  the  authority  of  the  papal  see  might  suffer. 
If  we  can  imagine  for  a  moment  Hadrian  as  the 
successor  of  Julius  II.,  he  would  indeed  have 
been  a  Pope  after  Luther's  own  heart.  It  is 
true  that  Hadrian  had  already  shown,  when 
professor  at  Louvain,  that  he  was  quite  averse 
to  any  doctrinal  innovations,  and  since  then 
Luther  had  changed.  Hadrian  felt  the  greatest 
hatred  for  the  heretic,  the  "carnal  man,"  who 
"  ceaselessly  indulged  in  wine  and  drunkenness  " 
and  "wished  to  introduce  the  unrestrained  life 
of  wild  beasts." 

For  all  his  good-will  he  accomplished  nothing. 
In  Rome  the  opposition  of  his  courtiers  frus- 
trated every  attempt  at  reform,  while  in  Ger- 


The  German   Revolution     171 

many,  those  who  had  the  ear  and  heart  of  the 
people  were  not  to  be  satisfied  by  such  reforms 
as  the  Pope  had  in  mind  and  as  Eck  proposed 
in  several  memorials  with  special  reference  to 
German  affairs.  With  a  success  unparalleled  in 
those  early  days  of  printing,  the  words  of  the 
true  reformer  flew  through  the  land  "as  if  the 
angels  themselves  were  messengers."  Hadrian's 
elaborate  brief  to  the  estates  of  the  German 
realm,  summoning  them  to  the  fight  against 
the  *'  poison  of  heresy "  and  prophesying  that 
the  fate  of  Dathan  and  Abiram,  Ananias  and 
Sapphira,  Priscillian  and  Vigilantius  would  over- 
take the  "apostate  monk,"  spoke  to  deaf  ears. 
Far  from  being  influenced  by  it,  the  Diet  of 
Nuremberg  decided,  in  January,  1523,  that 
nothing  was  to  be  taught  in  the  Empire  but 
the  true,  pure,  unalloyed  gospel.  There  was 
absolutely  no  thought  of  carrying  out  the 
Edict  of  Worms. 

Hadrian  died  in  September  of  the  same  year, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Giulio  Medici,  the  cousin 
of  Leo  X,,  under  the  name  of  Clement  VII. 
(1523-34).  A  man  of  great  gifts,  equally  well 
versed  in  natural  science  and  the  humanities,  he 
seemed  peculiarly  fitted  to  take  the  helm  at 
this  dangerous  time.  Unfortunately,  not  only 
was  he  unable  to  make  himself  master  of  the 
complicated  situation,  but  the  measures  he  took 


172  The   Papacy 


contributed  to  make  it  worse.  At  a  time  when 
the  Church  revolution  in  Germany  should  have 
occupied  his  whole  attention,  he  threw  himself 
into  a  politico-military  undertaking  for  which 
he  lacked  the  necessary  resources.  He  wished 
to  drive  the  Spaniards,  whose  influence  he 
himself  had  helped  to  increase  under  Leo,  out 
of  Italy.  The  result  was  that  he  was  besieged 
in  the  Castle  of  Sant'  Angelo  and  compelled  to 
witness  the  plundering  of  Rome,  the  worst  that 
the  Eternal  City  had  experienced  since  the  days 
of  the  Vandals.  And  at  the  same  time  he  had 
quarrelled  with  the  Emperor,  whose  support  was 
indispensable  to  him  in  the  German  question. 
This  unfortunate  state  of  things  drove  him  into 
the  arms  of  Francis  I.  of  France,  and  the  under- 
standing between  the  French  king  and  the 
Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse  very  nearly  forced 
the  Pope  into  a  political  alliance  with  the 
Protestant  prince,  whose  attitude  in  the 
religious  question  he  attacked  most  bitterly. 

The  most  cursory  glance  at  these  matters  is 
sufficient  to  show  on  what  a  dangerous  incline 
the  papal  policy  was  proceeding.  The  entrance 
into  secular  affairs  had  been  its  ruin,  and 
Clement  only  involved  it  still  further.  He 
showed  no  understanding  of  the  religious  ques- 
tion. "  To  root  out  the  poisonous  growth  with 
fire  and  sword"  seemed  to  him  the  last  word 


The  German   Revolution     173 

of  wisdom  ;  and  the  best  advice  he  could  give 
Charles  V.  through  his  legates  at  the  Diet  of 
Augsburg  was  that  the  Emperor  should  confine 
his  attention  to  the  sovereigns,  from  whom  he 
could  squeeze  a  large  sum  of  money,  which, 
indeed,  was  absolutely  necessary  to  fight  the 
Turks.  In  this  way  he  lost  ground  in  Germany 
year  by  year.  A  few  months  before  his  death 
Wurtemberg  also  went  over  to  the  Protestants, 
whose  unconditional  submission  had  long  been 
out  of  the  question. 

Added  to  that  came  the  secession  of  England. 
In  June,  1534,  Henry  VIII.,  in  a  royal  edict, 
abolished  the  papal  supremacy  over  England, 
and  on  November  9th — a  few  weeks  after 
Clement's  death — he  had  his  edict  confirmed 
by  Parliament.  The  cause  of  this  far-reaching 
step  was  the  Pope's  refusal  to  grant  Henry  a 
divorce  from  Katharine  of  Aragon,  the  aunt 
of  Charles  V.  About  this  vexed  question  the 
most  animated  negotiations  had  been  going 
on  for  years  between  the  courts  of  England 
and  Rome.  The  shifty  behaviour  of  the  Pope 
had  certainly  contributed  much  to  incense  the 
King.  We  know  now  for  certain  that  the 
legate  Campeggio,  when  he  came  to  England 
in  1528  on  a  special  mission,  was  empowered 
to  make  great  advances,  whereas  Clement,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  continually  prevented  from 


174  The  Papacy 


coming  to  a  decision  by  consideration  for  the 
Emperor.  It  would  not  have  been  difficult  for 
him  to  put  canonical  considerations  on  one  side 
if  he  had  really  wished,  and  he  can  hardly  have 
had  any  religious  scruples.  Yet  it  may  be 
asked  whether  he  would  have  gained  anything 
permanently  by  acceding  to  Henry's  wishes. 
All  that  is  known  of  the  political  and  eccle- 
siastical history  of  England  at  that  period 
points  to  the  fact  that  the  time  was  ripe  for 
shaking  off  the  Roman  yoke.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  in  spite  of  all  the  clerical  reactions,  there 
has  never  been  any  serious  prospect  of  restoring 
the  papal  rule  in  England. 

Meanwhile,  the  Emperor,  yielding  to  the 
pressure  of  the  Protestants,  had,  at  and  after 
the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  thrown  out  the  sugges- 
tion that  the  religious  question  should  be 
decided  by  a  council,  and  at  a  meeting  with 
the  Pope  had  strongly  insisted  on  this  point. 
Clement  firmly  rejected  this  attempt  at  con- 
ciliation, and  his  opposition  to  it  is  easy  to 
understand  if  we  remember  what  a  renewal 
of  the  efforts  of  the  fifteenth-century  councils 
would  have  meant  for  the  Curia ;  for  Charles 
naturally  took  it  for  granted  that  the  council 
would  not  sit,  like  those  of  the  Lateran,  in 
dependence  on  the  Pope.  But  the  Emperor 
did   not   cease   to  demand  a  settlement  of   the 


The  German   Revolution     175 

religious  difficulty,  and  found  more  encourage- 
ment from  Clement's  successor. 

Paul  III.  (Alexander  Farnese,  1534-49)  showed 
his  inclination  towards  a  policy  of  conciliation 
in  his  choice  of  advisers.  Among  them  Gasparo 
Contarini,  the  Venetian  Councillor,  ambassador 
of  the  Republic  to  Charles  V.  and  afterwards 
to  the  papal  court,  had  the  greatest  influence 
for  a  time.  Paul  made  him  while  still  a  lay- 
man a  member  of  the  Sacred  College.  He  was 
a  gentle,  peaceably-minded  man,  of  unimpeach- 
able integrity,  who  for  years  had  fought,  both 
by  his  words  and  his  writings,  for  reform — i.e., 
for  the  remedying  of  the  evils  in  the  Church 
and  Curia — and  who  unreservedly  supported  the 
attempts  at  an  understanding  with  the  opposing 
party.  Such  an  understanding  could  not  but  be 
regarded  as  hopeless  from  the  start. 

With  Luther  of  course  it  was  out  of  the 
question ;  in  his  Schmalkaldic  Articles  he  was 
again  hotly  attacking  the  Pope,  who  "  had 
usurped  his  vain,  devilish  business  with  false, 
wicked,  blasphemous,  usurped  power,  to  the 
ruin  of  the  entire  holy  Church  of  Christ " ; 
but  there  was  hope  with  those  who  thought 
like  Melancthon :  "  I,  Philip  Melancthon,  con- 
sider these  articles  also  right  and  Christian. 
But  concerning  the  Pope,  I  hold  that,  if  he 
will  allow  the   gospel,  we  should,  for   the  sake 


176  The  Papacy 


of  peace  and  the  common  unity  of  those 
Christians  who  are  under  him  and  will  be  in 
the  future,  admit  his  customary  superiority 
over  the  bishops,  *  jure  humano '  (by  human 
right)."  Contarini  prevailed  upon  the  Pope  to 
summon  a  council  at  Mantua,  to  which  the 
Protestants  were  invited  ;  when  this  plan  failed 
he  was  the  life  and  soul  of  the  negotiations 
for  union  that  took  place  after  1540.  In  the 
most  important  of  these,  the  discussion  on 
religious  matters  at  Regensburg  (1541),  he  took 
part.  He  even  thought  that  he  could  formu- 
late the  doctrine  of  Justification  in  terms 
equally  acceptable  to  Catholics  and  Protes- 
tants ;  but  in  this  he  overstepped  the  limits 
of  what  seemed  tolerable  to  others  who  had 
long  since  found  themselves  unable  to  share 
his  optimism  in  judging  the  situation. 

Giovanni  Pietro  Caraffa,  the  leader  of  the 
intransigeants  of  the  Curia,  was  the  very  oppo- 
site of  Contarini ;  passionate  in  his  emotions 
and  impetuous  in  his  actions,  stern  towards 
himself  and  towards  others,  he  had,  first  as 
Bishop  of  Theate  (Chieti)  in  the  Abruzzi,  then 
as  Archbishop  of  Brindisi,  already  striven  to 
effect  the  most  rigorous  reform  of  Church 
life;  he  was  the  founder  of  the  Theatines, 
that  severely  ascetic  order  of  regular  clergy, 
numerically  small  but  efficient  and  influential, 


The  German  Revolution      177 

which  was  mostly  recruited  from  among  the 
higher  nobility.  Contarini,  whose  knowledge 
of  human  nature  was  not  equal  to  his  gene- 
rosity, helped  Caraffa  to  enter  the  Sacred 
College,  which  he  had  vainly  tried  to  do  under 
Clement  VII.  He  was  then  already  more  than 
sixty,  yet  his  future  still  lay  before  him.  His 
programme  turned  on  two  points :  first,  war 
to  the  knife  against  heresy,  in  accordance  with 
the  maxim,  "  Heretics  remain  heretics,  and 
must  be  treated  as  such " ;  second,  the  revival 
and  reorganisation  of  the  forces  with  which 
the  Church  had  won  her  victories  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  He  caused  the  Roman  Inquisition  to  be 
founded  (1542),  he  suggested  the  creation  of 
the  Index  of  forbidden  books  (1548),  he  sup- 
ported the  efforts  made  to  drive  out  all  easy- 
going Humanism.  No  diplomatist,  but  a  man 
of  reactionary  principles,  he  allowed  no  worldly 
considerations  to  influence  his  actions. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  such  a  man 
would  be  interested  in  the  still  eagerly  dis- 
cussed idea  of  calling  a  general  council.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  he  kept  completely  in  the 
background  when  the  proposal  was  carried  out, 
and,  in  December,  1545,  that  great  assembly 
was  opened  at  Trent,  the  decisions  of  which 
mark  a  new  era  in  the  development  of  the 
Catholic    Church.      When    Paul    III.    died,    in 

12 


178  The    Papacy- 

No  vember,  1549,  Del  Monte,  the  President  of 
the  council,  was  elected  Pope  after  some 
delay.  He  occupied  St.  Peter's  Chair  for  five 
years,  under  the  name  of  Julius  III.  In  obe- 
dience to  the  Emperor's  wish  he  admitted 
Protestant  theologians  to  the  council,  which 
had  been  reopened  after  an  interval  of  four 
years.  Caraffa  had  no  influence  over  him,  but 
all  the  same  his  time  had  come.  He  had 
nearly  been  victorious  in  the  Conclave  which, 
in  order  to  escape  from  a  difficult  situation, 
elected  Marcellus  II.  (Marcello  Cervini)  after 
the  death  of  Julius.  On  the  death  of  Mar- 
cellus, twenty-two  days  later,  he  attained  his 
desire,  when  close  upon  seventy-nine  years  of 
age.  He  had  -not  lifted  a  finger  to  become 
Pope ;  his  election  was  such  a  surprise,  not 
only  to  the  Cardinals,  but  also  to  himself,  that 
he  was  convinced  that  the  Popes  were  appointed 
by  God. 

The  few  years  of  the  pontificate  of  Paul  IV. 
(1555-59)  were  of  great  importance,  not  on 
account  of  outward  successes — on  the  contrary, 
the  Pope's  narrow-minded  hatred  of  Spain  and 
all  that  was  Spanish  plunged  the  Curia  into 
great  difficulties — but  because  the  spirit  of  the 
counter-Reformation  is  stamped  upon  them 
with  remarkable  sharpness.  Paul  is  said  not 
to  have  missed  a  single    sitting  of   the   Holy 


The  German  Revolution      179 

Office,  the  court  that  judged  heretics.  He 
watched  with  inexorable  sternness  over  the 
execution  of  the  sentences,  and  did  not  spare 
even  clergy  of  high  dignity  if  their  orthodoxy 
appeared  doubtful  to  him.  The  Index  of  for- 
bidden books  published  by  him  made  book- 
sellers tremble  for  their  trade.  But  the  whole 
force  of  his  vehemence  revealed  itself  in  the 
Bull  in  which  he  laid  down  the  rules  for  de- 
posing and  punishing  rulers  who  were  here- 
tics or  friendly  to  heretics,  and  even  con- 
sidered the  possibility  of  deposing  a  Pope  who 
in  the  earlier  days  of  his  priestly  career  had 
entertained  heretical  ideas.  He  prohibited  all 
translations  of  the  Bible  into  the  vulgar  tongue. 
He  never  forgave  King  Ferdinand  for  helping 
to  conclude  the  religious  peace  of  Augsburg 
(1555),  which  he  looked  upon  as  an  insult  to  the 
Church.  At  the  same  time  the  octogenarian 
devoted  himself  with  feverish  impatience  to 
reform.  The  clergy  and  ritual  were  to  be  re- 
organised, art  and  learning  were  to  be  made 
wholly  subservient  to  the  Church.  Throughout 
he  asserted  his  sovereign  independence ;  he  ex- 
pected nothing  from  the  council,  and  for  that 
reason  did  not  summon  it  again.  He  was  the 
best-hated  man  in  Rome ;  in  his  eyes  even  the 
Jesuits  failed  to  find  favour,  and  yet  the  future 
lay  with  them. 


CHAPTER  XI 


FRESH  TROOPS 


WHILE,  after  the  Protest  at  Spires,  the 
defection  of  Germany  from  Rome  was 
making  irresistible  progress,  several  young  men, 
mostly  Spaniards,  who  were  studying  in  Paris, 
formed  a  religious  society  with  the  idea  of 
working,  by  God's  grace,  for  their  own  salva- 
tion and  that  of  their  fellow-men.  The  Basque 
Inigo  (Ignatius)  Lopez  de  Recalde,  called 
Loyola  after  the  castle  in  which  he  was  born, 
who  was  considerably  older  than  the  others 
and  intellectually  superior  to  them  all,  became 
their  leader.  After  a  troubled  youth  this  brave 
officer  had  become  a  fervent  votary  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  and  her  Son  ;  to  them  and  to 
the  Church  he  dedicated  his  life.  Though  the 
young  men  had  wished  originally  to  work 
among  the  infidels  in  Palestine,  Ignatius  soon 
saw  that  other  methods  of  attaining  their  end 
were  better  suited  to  the  conditions  of  the  age. 


Fresh  Troops  i8i 

He  and  his  friends,  therefore,  who  had  mean- 
while completed  their  studies  and  had  met 
again  on  Italian  soil,  added  to  the  three 
customary  monastic  vows  a  fourth,  viz.,  to 
fight  under  the  standard  of  the  Cross,  to  serve 
only  the  Lord  of  Heaven  and  the  Roman 
Pontiff,  His  representative  on  earth.  Whatever 
the  Pope  commanded  them  for  the  saving  of 
souls  and  the  spreading  of  the  faith,  and  into 
whatever  countries  he  might  send  them,  they 
would  consider  themselves  bound  to  obey  as 
far  as  lay  in  their  power  without  hesitation 
or  excuses.  The  "Company  of  Jesus"  was 
the  name  which  Ignatius,  in  obedience  to  God's 
declared  will,  as  he  himself  said,  gave  to  the 
little  community  that  set  itself  to  conquer 
the  world  afresh  for  the  Catholic  Church.  The 
name  of  Jesuits,  by  which  they  became  known, 
was  one  which  they  themselves  disliked. 

Rightly  recognising  the  priceless  value  of 
the  support  which  the  Papacy  might  receive 
from  these  fresh  troops,  Paul  III.  confirmed 
the  Order  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  on  September 
27,  1540.  Julius  III.  considerably  increased 
their  privileges.  The  Jesuits  were  granted 
the  rights  of  the  Mendicant  Orders  and  of  the 
secular  clergy,  and,  together  with  their  goods, 
were  exempted  from  all  secular  jurisdiction 
and    taxation.      They    were    therefore    subject 


1 82  The  Papacy 

to  no  one  but  their  own  superiors  and  the 
Pope.  They  were  given  the  right  of  exercising 
all  priestly  functions  even  during  an  interdict, 
of  absolving  from  all  penances  and  sins,  of 
commuting  the  vows  of  the  laity  into  other 
good  works,  of  dispensing  themselves  from 
fasts,  from  keeping  the  canonical  hours  and 
from  using  the  breviary,  as  well  as  of  acquir- 
ing churches  and  estates  everywhere  and  of 
founding  conventual  houses.  Moreover,  their 
General,  who  was  appointed  for  life,  was  given, 
besides  extensive  powers  over  the  members 
of  the  Order,  the  right  of  sending  them  any- 
where on  any  kind  of  mission,  of  appointing 
them  as  teachers  of  theology  in  any  place,  and 
of  conferring  academic  degrees  upon  them. 
The  Order  has  shown  itself  grateful  and  kept 
its  vows ;  it  has  worked  steadfastly  to  lay 
the  Catholic  world  unconditionally  at  the  feet 
of  the  Pope  as  the  absolute  and  infallible 
master  of  Christendom. 

The  hatred  of  Paul  IV.  for  the  Spaniards 
had  a  disturbing  influence  on  his  relations 
with  the  Jesuits.  When  a  Jesuit  writer  stated 
that  the  Pope  had  so  furthered  the  cause  of 
the  Order  that  he  might  almost  be  looked 
upon  as  its  founder,  this  was  at  best  only  a 
self-delusion  on  the  part  of  that  pious  man. 
In   point   of  fact   Ignatius   did   not  succeed  in 


Fresh  Troops  183 

gaining  the  confidence  of  the  Pope,  but  he 
never  departed  from  his  dutiful  attitude  to 
him.  The  Pope  doubted  even  the  orthodoxy 
of  Ignatius — whose  extravagant  mysticism  for 
a  time  rendered  him  suspect  to  the  Inquisition — 
and  as  a  politician  he  did  not  trust  him  the 
width  of  the  road.  He  even  withdrew  pecuniary 
support  from  the  Order  and  thereby  placed 
Ignatius  in  great  difficulties.  Yet  even  Paul 
could  not  do  without  the  Fathers  ;  and  when 
he  needed  a  particularly  capable  legate  he 
sent  the  Jesuit  Salmeron,  while  the  chant  of 
infallibility  that  Lainez,  the  successor  of 
Ignatius,  was  constantly  raising,  sounded 
gratefully  in  his  ear. 

How  valuable  to  the  Papacy  the  support 
of  the  Society  was  to  become  was  seen  when 
Pius  IV.  (Medici,  sprung  from  a  plebeian 
Milanese  family  unrelated  to  the  Florentine 
Medici,  1559-65)  again  summoned  the  council 
to  meet  once  more  at  Trent  (January  18, 
1562— December  4,  1563).  Even  in  the  first 
sittings  under  Paul  III.  Lainez  and  Salmeron 
had  taken  part  by  order  of  the  Pope ;  they 
had  modestly  taken  their  places  among  the 
"  lesser "  theologians ;  but  Salmeron,  a  good 
speaker  and  well  versed  in  theology,  distin- 
guished himself  even  then,  for  the  wording 
of   the   doctrine    of    Justification    accepted   by 


184  The  Papacy 

the  council  was  his.  The  second  session  under 
Julius  saw  the  two  Jesuits  again  in  their 
place,  but  they  had  little  opportunity  of 
distinguishing  themselves.  The  third  session, 
however,  made  up  for  this.  In  the  interval 
Lainez  had  become  General  of  his  Order 
and  Salmeron  had  gained  high  reputation 
as  a  theologian  and  writer.  Outwardly 
their  demeanour  was  as  modest  as  ever ; 
Lainez  contented  himself  with  the  last 
place  of  those  reserved  for  the  heads  of 
Orders,  knowing,  it  is  true,  that  he  thus  had 
the  advantage  of  being  able  to  speak  last  in 
the  debate.  He  urged  his  views  with  incom- 
parable dialectical  skill,  and  what  he  said  was 
always  calculated  to  promote  the  triumph  of 
the  papal  claim  to  universal  power  over  the 
Church.  But  above  all  he  kept  on  presenting 
in  ever-fresh  forms  the  idea  that  definitions 
in  matters  of  faith  must  come  from  the  Holy 
See,  and  the  infallibility  of  the  councils  is  but 
an  emanation  from  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope. 
The  Pope,  thanks  largely  to  these  efforts  of 
the  Jesuits,  remained  master  of  the  council, 
the  decrees  of  which  he  confirmed  in  a  special 
Bull.  In  accordance  with  a  resolution  of  the 
council  he  gave  to  the  ecclesiastical  censorship 
of  books  the  form  which,  with  small  variations, 
it  kept  down   to   the  time   of  Leo  XIII.     But 


Fresh  Troops  185 

above  all  he  formulated  the  vow  which  thence- 
forth every  one  holdmg  office  in  the  Church 
had  to  take,  the  "  Professio  fidei  tridentina." 
In  this  confession  of  faith  the  vow  of  obedience 
to  the  Pope  as  successor  of  St.  Peter  and  Vicar 
of  Christ  on  earth  was  included,  and  the  clergy- 
were  thus  fettered  more  firmly  than  ever  to 
the  papalistic  idea. 

This  idea  itself  took  a  specially  high  flight 
in  the  years  following  the  Council.  The  reign 
of  Pius  IV.  was  only  one  of  transition.  Pius 
V.  (Michaele  Ghislieri,  a  Dominican,  1566-72) 
was  called  to  continue  his  work.  What  we 
know  of  his  life  and  piety  makes  it  easy  to 
understand  why  he  was  canonised.  As  Pope 
he  remained  the  monk  in  whose  eyes  religious 
things  came  before  all  else,  who  continued  in 
prayer  for  hours  at  a  time,  who  took  part 
in  processions  barefoot  and  bareheaded,  who 
counted  worldly  honour  and  earthly  posses- 
sions as  nothing,  who  did  not  lift  a  finger  to 
advance  his  relations,  and  looked  upon  the 
scandalous  goings-on  in  Rome  as  an  abomina- 
tion in  the  Holy  Place.  That  the  blood  of 
heretics  is  on  his  halo  need  not  perplex  the 
Church,  for  this  blood  was  shed  for  the  greater 
glory  of  God  and  of  His  holy  will. 

Pius  V.  did  much  for  the  Church.  It  was 
under  him  that  the  resolutions  of  the  Council 


1 86  The  Papacy 


of  Trent  were  first  carried  out  in  their  entirety : 
at  his  command  was  issued  the  Roman  Cate- 
chism, which  became  the  religious  handbook 
for  the  CathoKc  clergy  of  all  lands;  he  caused 
the  Roman  breviary  and  missal  to  be  published, 
and  thus  gave  an  uniform  foundation  both  to 
public  worship  and  to  private  devotion.  But 
his  heart — if  we  may  speak  of  a  heart  in  con- 
nection with  things  that  so  sorely  wound  our 
humane  feelings — was  really  in  the  persecution 
of  heretics.  It  was  not  for  nothing  that, 
before  he  became  Pope,  he  had  served  the 
Inquisition  for  many  years  in  various  positions, 
and  finally  as  Head  of  the  Holy  Office  in  Rome. 
His  burning  hatred  of  heretics  consumed  all 
else  in  him.  As  Pope  also  he  waged  a  pitiless 
war  against  them  wherever  his  secular  arm 
could  reach  them.  The  last  remnants  not  only 
of  the  reform  movement  in  Rome  and  Italy, 
but  also  of  the  more  liberal  Catholicism,  were 
rooted  out  by  him.  Under  him  died  Pietro 
Carnesecchi ;  under  him  Bartolommeo  Carranza, 
a  Dominican  like  himself  and  Archbishop  of 
Toledo,  languished  in  the  dungeons  of  the 
Inquisition.  It  was  on  apostate  England,  how- 
ever, that  Pius  poured  out  all  the  vials  of  his 
wrath.  The  thought  of  the  Catholics  who  had 
been  driven  thence  never  left  him ;  he  said 
once  that  he  would  willingly  shed  his  life-blood 


Fresh  Troops  187 

for  them.  He  took  vengeance  by  the  thunder- 
bolt of  excommunication  with  which  he  thought 
to  strike  the  maiden  queen — a  bastard  in  his 
eyes.  We  might  well  think  ourselves  back  in 
the  Middle  Ages  when  we  read  the  words 
with  which  the  Pope  uttered  his  sentence  of 
deposition  on  the  "  sham  queen  "  and  freed  her 
subjects  from  their  oath  of  allegiance.  The 
suspicion  has  even  clung  to  him  that  he  was 
no  stranger  to  the  attempts  on  Elizabeth's 
life.  Undoubtedly  he  would  have  thought  it 
a  good  work,  if  some  one  had  made  away  with 
the  heretic  who,  for  him,  personified  the  opposi- 
tion to  God  and  His  gospel.  But  Pius  is  not  less 
holy  in  the  opinion  of  the  Church  because  he 
gave  way  to  such  thoughts. 

For  us,  however,  who  are  not  discussing 
holiness  and  unholiness,  but  are  rather  en- 
deavouring to  trace  the  working  out  of  an 
idea,  there  is  something  else  of  more  import- 
ance. The  necessity  for  checking  heresy  brought 
the  Papacy  once  more  face  to  face  with  its 
apostolic  mission.  The  command,  "  Feed  My 
sheep,"  still  sounded,  with  the  same  inflexi- 
bility as  a  thousand  or  fifteen  hundred  years 
ago.  Pius  y.  devoted  himself  with  disinter- 
ested faithfulness  to  this  work  and  did  not 
shrink  from  giving  the  sharpest  provocation 
when  there  was  question  of  asserting  this  idea. 


1 88  The  Papacy 


He  added  the  Protestant  heresy  to  the  Bull 
"  In  Coena  Domini "  {i.e.,  "  at  the  Supper  of  the 
Lord"),  the  list,  which  had  been  drawn  up 
centuries  before,  of  all  that  was  banned  by  the 
Holy  See,  and  once  more  ordered  it  to  be  read 
aloud  on  Maundy  Thursday,  to  remind  princes 
and  people  afresh  of  their  dependence  on  the 
Pope  alone,  in  things  both  temporal  and 
spiritual. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  for  a  time  things 
looked  as  if  the  idea  of  the  Papacy  were 
destined  to  a  new  birth.  The  community  of 
interests  out  of  which  grew  at  that  time  a 
definite  Catholic  policy  of  which  the  Pope 
seemed  to  be  the  natural  leader,  made  the 
Powers  look  more  than  ever  to  Rome.  Under 
the  successors  of  Pius  V.,  who  continued  his 
policy,  Gregory  XIII.  (Ugone  Buoncampagni, 
1573-85),  Sixtus  V.  (Felice  Peretti,  1585-90),  and 
— after  two  Popes  of  no  importance — Clement 
VIII.  (Ippolito  Aldobrandini,  1592-1605),  not 
only  did  the  threads  of  the  ecclesiastical 
counter-Reformation  meet  in  Rome,  but  Rome's 
influence  is  to  be  seen  in  all  public  State  affairs. 
How  eagerly  did  the  Curia  take  part  in  those 
plans  for  the  invasion  of  England  which  reached 
their  culminating  point  in  the  Armada  and 
came  to  an  end  with  its  destruction !  How 
busily  did  it  interfere  in   the  complications  in 


Fresh  Troops  189 

France  under  Charles  IX.,  Henry  III.,  and 
Henry  IV !  His  influence  over  the  Powers 
of  Southern  Europe  enabled  Pius  V.  to  stir 
up  Christian  feeling  against  the  Turks,  and 
Sixtus  V.  could  dream  of  the  possibility  of 
conquering  Egypt. 

Yet  we  should  be  quite  in  the  wrong  if  we 
assumed  that,  for  the  Powers,  community  of 
interests  gave  rise  to  any  idea  of  dependence 
on  the  Papal  See  in  the  sense  of  the  apostolic 
watchword  once  more  taken  up  by  Pius  V. 
The  hereditary  devotion  of  the  German  and 
Spanish  Hapsburgs  proved  this  as  little  as 
the  feigned  submissiveness  of  Henry  IV.  when 
on  his  conversion  to  Catholicism  (1595)  he  made 
his  ambassadors  accept  in  his  stead  the  absolv- 
ing blow  of  the  papal  rod.  In  reality  this 
devotion  very  quickly  came  to  an  end  even  in 
Spain,  and  the  French  King  never  had  any 
intention  of  directing  his  policy  otherwise  than 
in  accordance  with  his  own  judgment  and 
interests.  Even  Clement  VIII.  was  obliged  to 
fall  back  on  the  policy  of  "  Do  ut  des,"  which 
was  certainly  a  lapse  from  the  ideal,  but  at 
the  same  time  was  the  only  way  of  attaining 
anything  definite.  Gregory  XIII.  had  a  medal 
struck  to  celebrate  the  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew (1572),  Clement  VIII.  did  not  dare 
to  oppose  the  Edict  of  Nantes  (1598).     He  had 


190  The  Papacy 


to  come  to  terms  with  the  King,  for  he  needed 
his  help  ;  it  was  thanks  to  him  that  he  suc- 
ceeded in  incorporating  Ferrara — the  Duchy 
of  the  House  of  Este — in  the  States  of  the 
Church. 

The  care  of  the  States  of  the  Church  became 
an  increasingly  important  point  in  the  papal 
programme.  The  temporal  power  proved  more 
and  more  dangerous  for  the  representative  of 
St.  Peter,  for  the  administration  of  the  States 
cost  much  time  and  money,  and  always  con- 
tained the  germ  of  misunderstandings  with  the 
other  rulers  in  Italy.  For  the  historian  of  the 
Papal  States  or  of  Rome  under  the  Popes  this 
period  offers  a  wide  field.  Pius  V.  had  already 
tried  to  rescue  the  States  from  the  decay  to 
which  they  seemed  doomed,  but  the  Draconian 
and  doctrinaire  measures  of  the  unworldly 
Inquisitor  did  more  harm  than  good.  Gregory 
XIII. — the  same  who  won  undying  fame  by 
his  reform  of  the  Calendar — did  his  best,  but 
he  was  powerless  against  the  brigandage  that 
grew  more  daring  than  ever  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  nobility,  while  money  was  always 
lacking  for  the  public  buildings  and  improve- 
ments which  he  began.  There  was  no  epoch- 
making  Pope  till  Sixtus  V.  In  his  youth  Felice 
Peretti  had  been  a  swineherd,  then  he  went 
to   the   Franciscans,   and   since    he   had    taken 


Fresh  Troops  191 

Rome  by  storm  in  1552  with  his  Lenten  sermons 
he  had  been  the  darHng  of  Ghislieri,  who 
shortly  after  became  Pius  V.  He  ruled  like  a 
prince  after  the  heart  of  Machiavelli,  though 
a  prince  not  of  the  Renaissance,  but  of  the 
counter-Reformation.  The  people  regarded  him 
with  awe.  They  credited  him,  like  Alexander 
VI.,  with  having  made  a  compact  with  the  Evil 
One,  and  destroyed  his  statue  after  his  death. 
He  watched  over  the  public  order  with  cruel 
severity  and  alrely  succeeded  in  mastering  the 
brigands.  His  brilliant  and  much-admired 
financial  policy,  which  he  placed  under  the 
protection  of  the  Virgin  and  SS.  Peter  and  Paul, 
filled  his  coffers,  though  he  dipped  freely  into 
them  to  carry  out  great  plans  in  great  style. 
Rome  owes  him  various  agricultural  improve- 
ments, especially  the  first  steps  towards  drain- 
ing the  Pontine  marshes,  and  the  great  water 
supply,  the  Aqua  Felice,  which  had  to  be 
brought  into  the  city  from  the  Alban  hills.  Nor 
was  Art  idle  under  him,  though  the  spirit  of 
Sixtus  IV.,  whose  name  he  had  taken,  did  not 
rest  upon  this  Pope,  still  less  that  of  Julius  II. 
or  Leo  X.  The  obelisk  in  St.  Peter's  Square, 
surmounted  by  a  cross,  is  a  standing  monument 
of  the  pseudo-improvement  of  the  antique  by 
a  misunderstood  Christianity. 
There  remains  one  more  question,  the  most 


192  The  Papacy 

important  of  all :  What  did  these  Popes  do  for 
the  counter-Reformation  itself  ?  But  this  ques- 
tion is  inseparably  connected  with  another : 
What  was  their  attitude  to  the  Jesuits?  The 
Order  was  not  founded  to  fight  against  Pro- 
testantism ;  but,  as  things  were,  this  necessarily 
became  before  long  their  most  important  task. 
The  unshaken  tenacity  with  which  the  first 
generations  of  the  Order  devoted  themselves 
to  it  cannot  be  sufficiently  admired.  They  saw 
at  once  that  no  success  could  be  hoped  for 
without  a  thoroughgoing  change  for  the  better 
within  the  Church  itself,  and,  with  a  zeal  that 
feared  no  obstacles,  they  set  to  work  to  bring 
about  this  change.  The  average  ecclesiastic 
looked  on  with  unfavourable  eyes ;  the  Jesuits 
attacked  what  was  rotten  too  violently  and 
broke  too  decidedly  with  ordinary  routine 
Christianity  not  to  meet  with  opposition.  Their 
boundless  belief  in  articles  of  faith  which  en- 
lightened Catholics  had  long  allowed  to  drop, 
the  unyieldingness  with  which  they  insisted  on 
blind  obedience  to  the  Church  and  her  Head, 
made  them  very  unpopular  at  first,  especially 
with  ecclesiastical  politicians.  On  the  other 
hand  they  were  loved  by  the  people,  whose 
childlike  minds  they  exactly  understood,  to 
whose  consciences  they  appealed  without 
laying  too  heavy  a  burden  upon  them,  whom 


Fresh  Troops  193 

they  delighted  by  the  imaginative  richness  of 
their  worship  and  whose  simple  piety  they  fed 
with  new  and  ingenious  devices.  The  crown  of 
their  labours,  however,  was  the  capture  of  the 
schools  and  thereby  of  the  power  of  influencing 
the  coming  generation. 

Rome  remained  their  centre,  the  Pope  their 
chief  protector.  One  of  the  most  fruitful 
suggestions  of  Ignatius  was  the  foundation  of 
those  clerical  seminaries  in  Rome,  where 
Catholic  youths  from  countries  which  were 
either  non-Catholic  or  threatening  to  become 
so,  were  educated,  in  order  that  later  on  they 
might  work  with  absolute  self-surrender  to 
diffuse  in  their  own  lands  the  ideas  imbibed 
in  Rome.  The  model  of  these  colleges  was  the 
Collegium  Germanicum  with  its  red  coats, 
founded  by  Ignatius  and  reorganised  by 
Gregory  XIII.  Gregory  also  transformed  the 
Collegium  Romanum,  which  likewise  owed  its 
inception  to  Ignatius,  into  the  "  Gregorian 
University,"  and  it  is  still  to-day  the  nursery 
of  the  Jesuit  ultramontane  spirit.  Indeed,  he 
had  a  hand  in  all  the  scholastic  enterprises  of 
the  Jesuits. 

As  the  Order  was  ruled  at  that  time  by  a 
weak  General  whom  Gregory  himself  had  forced 
upon  it,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  papal 
influence  became   greater   than  was   consistent 

13 


1 94  The  Papacy 

with  the  ideas  of  its  founder.  Claudio  Aqua- 
viva,  whose  Generalship  (1582-1605)  marks  the 
highest  point  of  the  first  period  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Order,  restored  the  independence 
that,  with  all  due  submission  to  papal  authority, 
was  essential  to  it.  This  was  the  more  difficult 
to  accomplish  in  that  the  long  existing  anta- 
gonism to  the  Dominicans  became  an  open 
hostility  at  this  time,  and  the  Dominicans  in 
conjunction  with  the  Spanish  Government  did 
their  best  to  stir  up  mistrust  against  the 
Jesuits. 

Apart  from  this  they  had  a  hard  battle  to 
fight  under  the  despotic  Sixtus  V.  The  Pope 
considered  it  an  act  of  high  treason  that  the 
Jesuit  Bellarmine  should  twist  the  theory  of 
the  universal  dominion  of  the  Papacy,  which 
had  been  set  forth  by  Pius  V.  and  appeared 
self-evident  to  his  successors,  into  the  view  that 
spiritual  power  alone  belonged  directly  and 
immediately  to  the  Pope  as  Pope,  while  tem- 
poral power,  though  of  the  most  exalted  kind, 
only  belonged  to  him  indirectly,  just  because 
of  his  spiritual  power.  He  did  not  see  that  it 
was  only  a  question  of  an  extraordinarily  skilful 
manoeuvre  which  led  to  the  same  goal  by  a 
roundabout  road  without  contradicting  too 
flatly  the  modern  conception  of  the  State,  and 
that  in  practice  no  Jesuit  would  ever  think  of 


Fresh  Troops  195 

distinguishing  between  "  direct "  and  "  indirect." 
Clement  VIII.  soon  learnt  to  appreciate  the 
Order  again.  In  the  political  intrigues  that 
almost  entirely  filled  his  time  the  Jesuits  proved 
themselves  astute  accomplices,  never  at  a  loss 
in  their  choice  of  means,  always  able  to  inter- 
pret custom  and  law  in  accordance  with  their 
highest  ends.  There  was  soon  nothing  of  im- 
portance in  which  they  did  not  play  a  leading 
part;  by  their  adroit  attitude  at  court  and 
their  methods  in  the  confessional,  so  skil- 
fully calculated  to  suit  the  weaknesses  of  the 
great,  they  were  able  to  keep  themselves  in 
power. 

Pope  Paul  V.  (Camillo  Borghese,  1605-21), 
who  put  Copernicus  on  the  Index  and  governed 
the  Church  on  the  principles  of  Sixtus  V.,  leant 
throughout  on  the  Jesuits  and  supported  them 
in  difficulties.  The  bitterness  of  his  feud  with 
Venice,  in  which  he  resorted  to  the  mediaeval 
weapons  of  ban  and  interdict,  was  largely  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  Republic  had  driven  out 
the  Jesuits  and  the  Pope  was  anxious  to  compel 
their  return.  Just  at  that  time  they  were 
engaged  in  spreading  everywhere,  with  their 
seductive  dialectic,  the  dangerous  doctrine  of 
the  subordination  of  the  temporal  to  the 
spiritual  power,  of  princes  to  the  Pope.  Tre- 
mendous   excitement    was    aroused     by    their 


196  The  Papacy 

theories.  The  Spaniard  Mariana's  "De  Rege," 
in  which  the  lawfulness  of  killing  tyrants  was 
illustrated  by  the  example  of  Clement,  the 
assassin  of  Henry  III.  of  France,  was  burnt 
by  the  hangman  when  Ravaillac's  murder  of 
Henry  IV.  in  1610  seemed  to  prove  whither 
such  views  must  lead.  The  same  fate  befell 
Suarez'  "  Defence  of  the  Catholic  Faith,"  which 
was  aimed  at  James  I.  of  England,  and  in  which 
the  Roman  Catholic  subjects  of  the  king  were 
incited  to  rebel  against  the  Government. 
Paul  V.  recognised  his  own  spirit  in  these 
theories  and  defended  them  warmly  and  even 
officially.  He  forbade  the  English  Roman 
Catholics  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  and 
said  that  the  Lord  of  Hosts  had  judged  the 
reprobate  French  King. 

The  Jesuits'  greatest  triumphs,  however,  were 
under  Gregory  XV.  (Alessandro  Ludovisio,  1621- 
23) — or  perhaps  it  would  be  more  correct  to 
say  under  Ludovico  Ludovisio.  He  it  was  who 
ruled  in  the  name  of  the  decrepit  old  Pope  his 
uncle,  and  he  had  been  brought  up  by  the 
Jesuits.  Ignatius  Loyola  and  Francis  Xavier, 
the  great  missionary,  were  canonised  at  this 
time,  and,  what  was  most  important,  the 
Congregation  of  the  Propaganda,  the  centre 
of  Roman  Catholic  missions  to  the  heathen,  was 
founded.     Also,  as  if  to  illustrate  in  the  most 


Fresh  Troops  197 

drastic  way  Rome's  claim  to  be  the  mistress 
of  all  culture  and  learning,  Maximilian  of 
Bavaria  gave  over  the  Heidelberg  library, 
which  he  had  captured,  to  the  Pope,  who  had 
it  placed  in  the  Vatican  under  the  name  of 
"  Bibliotheca  Palatina." 

Without  the  Jesuits  the  Papacy  could  cer- 
tainly not  have  become  once  more  a  great 
power  in  the  eyes  of  the  nations,  and  yet 
Sixtus  V.  was  inspired  by  the  right  feeling 
when  he  found  himself  unable  to  conquer  his 
dislike  to  the  Order.  If  we  reflect  upon  the 
idea  of  the  Papacy  and  upon  the  great  men 
who  embodied  it,  we  feel  loath  to  leave  this 
Pope.  He  is  the  last  for  centuries  who  is  really 
interesting.  Not  the  least  reason  for  this  is 
that  the  Jesuits  secured  the  chief  part  in 
guiding  the  destinies  of  the  Church.  The  Black 
Pope  gradually  takes  his  place  beside  the  white 
one,  or,  to  use  another  metaphor,  the  Pope 
becomes  more  and  more  like  the  king  in  a  game 
of  chess.  It  is  of  course  the  soldier's  first  duty 
to  protect  the  king,  but  the  king  has  a  very 
limited  power  of  moving  and  he  is  only  allowed 
to  take  part  in  the  battle  so  long  as  he  does 
not  endanger  the  victory.  The  Pope  remains 
the  representative  of  Christ  to  whom  the  Jesuits 
have  sworn  to  be  faithful  even  unto  death,  but 
their  General  is  the  leader,  and  the  "  Company 


198  The  Papacy 

of  Jesus"  is  the  guard.  Will  it  be  possible 
to  avoid  friction  with  such  an  arrangement, 
and    will     military    subordination    stand    the 

test? 


1 


CHAPTER  XII 


DEFEATS 


NO  one  can  dispute  the  fact  that  the  Popes 
of  the  counter-Reformation  took  their 
office  as  shepherds  of  souls  seriously,  often 
almost  too  seriously.  We  only  realise  what 
that  means  when  we  turn  from  Gregory  XV. 
to  Urban  VIII.  (Matteo  Barberini,  1623^4),  who 
reigned  longer  than  any  Pope  since  the  time 
of  Hadrian  I.  and  Leo  III.  We  breathe  quite 
a  different  air.  We  feel  as  if  we  were  in 
Florence  or  some  other  Italian  princely  court ; 
the  thought  that  we  have  to  do  with  a  Pope 
is  the  last  that  occurs  to  us.  Urban  VIII. 
busied  himself  with  cannon  and  soldiers ;  he 
fitted  up  the  rooms  of  the  Vatican  library  as 
an  armoury.  In  contrast  to  the  pious  exercises 
of  his  predecessors  he  composed  verses  and 
sought  after  wealth  and  splendour  for  his 
family,  which  he  had   raised   to   princely  rank. 

Men  used    to    say    later  of    the    bees    in    the 

199 


200  The  Papacy 


Barberini  coat-of-arms  that  it   was  no  wonder 
they   were   fat,  for   they  had   had   their   fill  of 
honey  for  more  than  twenty  years.     The  papal 
foreign    policy    changed    also.     The    Emperor 
Ferdinand     II.    could    never    persuade     Urban 
to    look    upon    the    Thirty    Years'    War    as   a 
religious  war,    though   he  himself  waged   it   as 
such.     Urban's    anti-Hapsburg     interests     even 
led       him      to      sympathise      with      Gustavus 
Adolphus,  and  it  was   indignantly   said   at  the 
Curia  that  the  King  of  Sweden  showed  more 
zeal  for  Lutheranism  than  the  Holy  Father  for 
the  one  true  faith.     In   these  circumstances  it 
might    seem    strange    that    this    Pope    should 
have   given  the  Bull    "In    Ccena    Domini"  its 
final  form,  if  we  did  not  know  that  he  was  as 
proud    of    his    position   as   any    of    his    prede- 
cessors, though   more   from  a  personal  point  of 
view  than  as   the  successor    of  St.   Peter.     In 
the  history  of  intellectual  development  he  has 
no    good    name,   for    it    was    under  him    that 
the  trial  of  Galileo  took  place. 

His  reign  was  not  a  happy  introduction  to 
the  next  hundred  years.  Viewed  as  a  whole, 
they  form  no  glorious  page  in  the  history  of  the 
Idea  of  the  Papacy  and  of  those  who  embodied 
it.  We  meet  with  neither  great  thoughts  nor 
powerful  personalities.  It  makes  little  differ- 
ence whether  the  Popes  are  called  Innocent  or 


Defeats  201 

Alexander,  Clement  or  Benedict.  An  excep- 
tion might  perhaps  be  made  in  favour  of 
Innocent  XI.  (1676-89),  who  at  least  created 
a  definite  impression,  though  it  cost  him  his 
position  as  head  of  Catholic  Christendom.  The 
fact  that  he  was  Pope  did  not  prevent  him 
from  giving  his  blessing  to  William  of  Orange, 
in  the  hope  that  his  expedition  to  England 
would  embarrass  his  hated  foe  Louis  XIV. 
Ranke  rightly  draws  attention  to  the  fact 
that  Rome  was  the  centre  of  an  alliance 
which  had  the  aim  and  result  of  freeing 
Protestanism  in  Western  Europe  from  the 
last  and  greatest  danger  that  threatened  it, 
and  of  permanently  gaining  the  English  throne 
for  that  form  of  belief.  The  spirit  of  the 
counter-Reformation  had  died  out. 

Generally  speaking,  we  may  say  that  the 
Popes  were  of  no  account  in  international 
politics.  No  one  heeded  the  touching  lamen- 
tation with  which  Innocent  X.  (1644-55) 
bemoaned  the  "  serious  hurt  done  to  the 
Catholic  religion  and  the  papal  rights"  by 
the  Peace  of  Westphalia.  It  was  quite  in  vain 
that  Clement  XI.  (1700-21)  stigmatised  the 
raising  of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  to  the 
throne  of  Prussia  as  a  "  shameless  crime 
against  religion "  degrading  the  sacredness  of 
the    royal    dignity.     No   one   took    any   notice 


202  The  Papacy 


when  the  same  Clement  insisted  that  his 
Nuncios  should  be  admitted  to  the  negotiations 
for  the  Peace  of  Utrecht.  The  Holy  See  was 
bereft  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  soon  after  Parma 
and  Piacenza,  in  spite  of  the  Pope's  protests; 
Austria  and  the  Bourbons  opposed  him ;  the 
claims  of  Naples,  which  would  fain  have 
abolished  all  ecclesiastical  privileges,  not  to 
speak  of  the  Pope's,  became  peculiarly  burden- 
some. In  the  year  1737  the  Venetian  Ambas- 
sador in  Rome  wrote  to  his  Government :  "  I 
cannot  deny  that  there  is  something  unnatural 
in  the  sight  of  all  the  Catholic  Governments 
in  such  disagreement  with  the  Roman  Court 
that  no  reconciliation  can  be  imagined  which 
would  not  vitally  injure  this  Court.  Whether 
it  be  due  to  greater  enlightenment,  as  many 
say,  or  to  the  spirit  of  oppression  of  the  weak, 
it  is  certain  that  the  rulers  are  rapidly  advanc- 
ing towards  depriving  the  See  of  Rome  of  all 
its  temporal  rights." 

If  this  was  true  in  secular  politics,  it  was 
hardly  less  so  in  ecclesiastical.  Here,  too,  the 
Pope's  influence  was  everywhere  on  the  wane. 
France  especially  was  a  source  of  difficulty. 
Louis  XIV.,  the  Most  Christian  King,  had 
indeed  Jesuit  directors,  and  Mme.  de  Maintenon, 
a  zealous  proselytiser,  was  continually  stirring 
him  up  against  heretics.     Nevertheless  he  was 


Defeats  203 


always  at  war  with  the  Curia.  It  was  opposi- 
tion to  the  Curia  and  not  a  fit  of  ecclesiastical 
liberalism  that  made  him  give  his  sanction  to 
the  Galilean  ideas  with  which  the  French 
clergy  were  still  imbued,  and  issue  a  royal 
edict  (1682)  to  the  effect  that  not  only  had 
the  Pope  no  power  in  civil  matters  but  also 
his  spiritual  authority  was  subordinate  to  that 
of  the  general  councils,  e-nd  even  in  matters 
of  faith  his  decision  without  the  assent  of  the 
Church  was  not  inalterable.  Innocent  XL 
caused  the  four  articles  in  which  the  declara- 
tion of  these  "  Galilean  liberties  "  ("  Libert^s  de 
I'eglise  gallicane  ")  was  formulated  to  be  burnt 
by  the  hangman,  and  Innocent  XII.  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  the  bishops  obliged  "  to 
throw  themselves  at  the  feet  of  His  Holiness 
and  to  confess  their  unspeakable  grief"  at 
having  accepted  the  articles.  Louis  had  left 
them  in  the  lurch  as  soon  as  a  temporary 
better  understanding  with  the  Curia  made  him 
think  it  advisable.  If  the  articles  were  not 
formally  withdrawn,  there  was  no  further  talk 
for  the  time  being  of  a  Galilean  Church  in- 
dependent of  Rome. 

The  French  clergy  gave  the  Curia  constant 
trouble  on  another  point  also.  The  second  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century  was  filled  with  the 
so-called  Jansenist  disputes,  i.e.,  with  the  move- 


204  The  Papacy 

ment  started  by  the  Dutch  theologian  Cornelius 
Jansenius,  or,  to  be  more  precise,  by  his  book  on 
the  theology  of  St.  Augustine,  published  after 
his  death  (1640).  In  this  work  the  doctrines  of 
the  absolute  corruption  of  human  nature,  of  the 
bondage  of  the  human  will,  of  the  irresistible 
action  of  Divine  grace,  and  of  predestination, 
were  expounded  in  the  words  and  in  the  spirit 
of  the  great  Father.  At  a  time  when  the 
Jesuits  were  teaching  very  much  the  opposite, 
this  revival  of  an  inward  piety  that  did  not 
shrink  from  sounding  the  depths  of  religion 
could  not  fail  to  make  a  deep  impression.  A 
number  of  learned  men,  who  were  also  able 
writers  and  closely  connected  with  the  Cistercian 
convent  of  Port  Royal  des  Champs,  near  Paris, 
and  with  its  pious  Abbess  Angelique  Arnauld, 
banded  themselves  together  to  propagate  these 
serious  ideas  in  opposition  to  the  superficiality 
of  Jesuit  morals  and  religion.  They  even  took 
the  aggressive.  It  was  Jansenism  that  inspired 
the  celebrated  "  Lettres  provinciales  "  (1661),  in 
which  the  mathematician  Blaise  Pascal  pilloried 
Jesuitism  before  the  educated  world. 

But  the  Jesuits  were  under  the  protection  of 
the  Holy  See.  In  1642  they  had  procured  from 
Urban  VIII.  a  Bull  censuring  the  "  Augustinus 
Redivivus,"  though  only  in  general  terms. 
Innocent  X.   condemned   as    heretical   (1653)   a 


Defeats  205 


number  of  propositions  drawn  from  Jansenius's 
book,    and     when     the     Jansenists     contended 
that  these   propositions   did   not   express  their 
opinions,  Alexander  VII.  (1656)  ruled  that  they 
did.      This     encroachment     of     the     doctrinal 
authority    of    the    Pope — who    did    not    seem 
called   upon   to  decide  a  simple  matter  of  fact 
— aroused   widespread    indignation.     As   things 
turned    out,    the     Curia     under    Clement     IX. 
(1668)   condescended   to   retract  on  this    point, 
though  it  maintained  the  condemnation  of  the 
propositions.    It  seemed  almost  as  if  the  dispute 
were    ended    by    this    compromise,    when    the 
publication  of  a  New  Testament  with  Jansenistic 
notes    by    the    Oratorian    Paschasius    Quesnel 
stirred  it  up  afresh.     The  book  soon   obtained 
a  large  circulation,  and  as  at  the  same  time  a 
critical  edition  of  St.  Augustine's  works  issued 
by  the  Benedictines  proved  that  Jansenius  was 
right  in   claiming    that  his   ideas  were  Augus- 
tinian,  the  result  was   a  further  strengthening 
of  the  feeling  against  the  Jesuits  and  the  Curia. 
The  Jesuits  then  induced  Clement  XI.  to  issue 
the  Constitution  "  Unigenitus  "  (1713),  in  which 
a  hundred  and  one  propositions  from  Quesnel's 
New  Testament  were   condemned,  because  sus- 
ceptible    of     Jansenistic     interpretation.      The 
French     clergy     were     divided     into    "  Consti- 
tutionalists "     and     "  anti  -  Constitutionalists." 


2o6  The  Papacy 

Finally  the  Curia  succeeded,  by  granting  the 
much  desired  cardinal's  hat  to  the  ministers 
of  Louis  XV.,  in  obtaining  the  recognition  of 
the  Bull  as  a  law  of  the  realm. 

This  was  the  last  success  gained  by  the  Curia 
— or  by  the  Jesuits — for  a  long  season.  The 
Society  of  Jesus  was  on  the  high-road  to  power 
when  their  long-maintained  caution  deserted 
them  and  they  became  over-confident.  Com- 
plaints of  their  theatrical  method  of  education, 
of  the  superficiality  of  their  teaching,  and  of 
the  unscrupulousness  of  their  morality  grew 
louder  and  louder.  Moreover,  great  indignation 
was  aroused  by  the  ease  with  which  the  Jesuit 
missionaries  accommodated  themselves  to 
heathen  customs,  and  especially  by  the  com- 
mercial spirit  that  characterised  their  under- 
takings. Finally,  they  ruined  their  cause  with 
the  Pope  by  their  refractoriness  in  India  and 
China  to  the  papal  decrees. 

Benedict  XIV.  (Prospero  Lambertini,  1740-58), 
who  had  most  to  suffer  from  this  insubor- 
dination, had  thought,  towards  the  end  of  his 
life,  of  reforming  the  Order  by  force.  He  was, 
indeed,  a  wonderful  Pope.  It  has  been  well  said 
that  with  him  the  spirit  of  enlightenment  took 
possession  of  the  Papal  See ;  though,  of  course, 
not  in  an  anti-ecclesiastical  form.  Benedict 
showed  an  understanding  for  the  needs  of  his 


Defeats  207 


time  in  so  far  as  they  were  cousistent  with  the 
traditions  of  his  apostolic  office.  As  sovereign 
he  looked  after  the  welfare  of  his  subjects, 
he  encouraged  agriculture  and  industries  and 
reduced  the  burden  of  taxation.  Himself  a 
man  of  letters,  he  regularly  frequented  the 
society  of  scholars,  enlarged  the  Vatican  library, 
and  founded  academies  of  Archaeology  and 
Church  History.  As  head  of  the  Church  he  cut 
down  much  that  had  grown  rank  under  the 
Jesuits,  and  interested  himself  in  the  education 
of  the  clergy.  In  politics  he  was  moderate ;  he 
showed  an  accommodating  spirit  as  regards  the 
limits  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  spheres  of 
power,  and  succeeded  in  maintaining  peaceable 
relations  even  with  the  Protestant  rulers. 
Frederick  the  Great  spoke  of  him  with  marked 
respect,  and  even  if  there  was  irony  in  Voltaire's 
dedication  of  his  "  Mahomet "  to  the  Pope,  the 
very  fact  of  the  dedication  proves  that  attention 
was  paid  to  Benedict  by  the  advanced  men  of 
his  day.  If  we  add  that  the  Pope,  while  leading 
an  irreproachable  life,  was  a  cheerful  and 
amiable  companion — many  of  his  witticisms 
sound  somewhat  strange  in  the  mouth  of  the 
representative  of  St.  Peter — we  get  a  picture 
that  is  almost  unique  in  the  history  of  the 
Popes.  "  Though  all  truth,"  is  one  of  his  sayings, 
"  is  locked  up  in  my  breast  I  must  confess  that 
I  cannot  find  the  key  to  it." 


2o8  The  Papacy 

We  can  understand  that  such  a  Pope  was  not 
after  the  Jesuits'  own  heart.  They  exerted  all 
their  influence  in  the  Sacred  College  when 
Benedict's  successor  was  to  be  elected,  and 
Clement  XIII.  (Carlo  Rezzonico,  1758-69)  was 
a  mere  creature  of  the  Order.  No  reforms 
were  to  be  expected  from  him  ;  when  Louis  XV. 
tried  to  obtain  one  from  Ricci,  the  General  of 
the  Jesuits,  he  made  the  famous  reply  :  "  Sint 
ut  sunt  aut  non  sint "  (**  As  they  are  or  not  at 
all ").  Then  the  temporal  powers  began  the 
fight  on  their  own  account.  In  Portugal  the 
despotic  minister  Pombal  took  advantage  of  an 
attempt  against  the  King's  life — fathered  on  the 
Jesuits  without  demonstrable  justification  —  to 
drive  the  Order  from  the  country  (1759).  In 
France  the  bankruptcy  of  the  firm  of  La  Valette 
in  Martinique — financed  by  the  Jesuits — and  the 
ensuing  scandal  and  trial  made  them  impossible 
(1764).  The  remaining  Bourbon  States — Spain, 
Parma,  Naples — and  also  Milan  and  Venice, 
followed  suit.  Clement  tried  to  protect  the 
Order  by  inflicting  the  Interdict  on  its  perse- 
cutors, but  in  vain.  He  complained  in  powerless 
wrath  that  "the  Vicar  of  Christ  was  treated 
like  the  lowest  of  mortals." 

His  successor  was  the  last  Clement,  for  he 
would  indeed  be  a  bold  man  who  should  take 
the  name  after  him.      Clement   XIV.  (Lorenzo 


Defeats  209 

Ganganelli  (1769-74),  who  was  elected  after 
a  long  Conclave,  had  been  the  candidate  of  the 
Bourbon  courts.  Like  a  prudent  man,  who  had 
said  once,  "  I  sleep  quietly  because  I  know  that 
my  thoughts  sleep  with  me,"  and  who,  as  the 
French  ambassador  opined,  always  appeared  to 
be  on  the  side  of  the  person  to  whom  he  was 
speaking,  he  had  made  no  definite  promises ;  but 
his  remark  that  a  Pope  could  break  up  the 
Order,  in  spite  of  the  Jesuits'  assertion  to  the 
contrary,  might  be  considered  sufficient  guar- 
antee. However,  he  waited  four  years  before 
making  up  his  mind,  under  increasing  pressure, 
to  this  momentous  step.  On  July  21,  1773,  he 
signed  the  Brief  "Dominus  ac  redemptor  noster" 
("  Our  Lord  and  Saviour "),  which  was  made 
public  on  August  16th.  An  attentive  study  of 
this  carefully  drawn  up  document,  remarkable 
for  its  length,  shows  that  there  is  no  question 
of  a  condemna-tion  of  the  Order  on  principle. 
On  the  contrary,  the  alleged  ground  for  the 
dissolution  of  the  Order  was  that  it  no  longer 
produced  the  rich  fruits  and  the  great  benefits 
which  had  been  expected  at  its  foundation  and 
which  it  had  really  produced  in  its  early  days. 
Attention  was  drawn  to  the  divisions  it  had 
caused  in  the  various  States  and  even  in  the 
Church,  to  the  teaching  of  its  members,  which 
was  dangerous  to  sound  faith  and  good  morals, 

14 


2IO  The  Papacy 

and  to  their  unspiritual  greed  after  worldly- 
possessions.  It  was  stated  to  be  impossible 
for  the  Church  to  attain  true  and  lasting  peace 
as  long  as  the  Society  of  Jesus  remained  in 
existence. 

From  the  Catholic  point  of  view  it  can  always 
be  truly  objected  against  this  Brief  that,  in 
spite  of  its  show  of  absolute  papal  authority,  it 
was  but  a  measure  of  convenience  ;  the  reasons 
alleged  justify  only  a  censure  and  not  the 
dissolution  of  the  Order.  The  non-Catholic 
who  is  interested  in  the  history  of  the  papal 
idea  must  on  no  account  leave  out  of  con- 
sideration the  fact  that  the  dissolution  of 
the  Order  was  directly  opposed  to  the  interests 
of  the  Papacy.  That  the  precariousness  of 
the  measure  did  not  make  itself  felt,  as  must 
have  been  the  case  in  normal  circumstances, 
was  due  to  the  French  Revolution,  which  swept 
like  a  tidal  wave  over  the  whole  Catholic 
world  and  even  submerged  the  Barque  of  Peter. 
No  steersman,  however  skilful — not  even  the 
must  astute  Jesuit — could  have  saved  it  from 
this  disaster. 

The  vacancy  after  Clement's  death  lasted  for 
more  than  four  months.  Pius  VI.  (Angelo 
Braschi,  1775-99)  could  not  be  elected  till  he 
had  reassured  the  Bourbon  courts  on  the 
Jesuit  question.     If  he  could  have  had  his  way 


Defeats  211 

he  would  have  instantly  withdrawn  his  pre- 
decessor's edict.  However,  he  had  to  content 
himself  with  granting  a  semi-official  protec- 
tion, so  to  speak,  to  the  dispersed  Order. 
Besides,  his  attention  was  absorbed  by  the 
dangerous  turn  which  Church  affairs  had  taken 
in  Germany  and  Austria. 

The  German  Church  had  been  for  nearly 
two  centuries  under  the  influence  and  finally 
under  the  domination  of  Jesuitism,  but  about 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  reac- 
tion set  in.  It  soon  attained  formidable  pro- 
portions, aided  as  it  was  by  the  so-called 
"Enlightenment"  in  philosophy,  literature,  and 
history.  This  liberal  Catholicism  was  strongly 
represented  at  the  courts  of  the  great  bishops 
and  archbishops,  who,  by  appointing  liberal- 
minded  professors  to  their  seminaries,  ensured 
that  the  clergy  should  be  made  acquainted 
with  the  advance  of  learning.  The  natural 
result  was  a  weakening  of  that  antagonism 
to  Protestantism  w^hich  the  Jesuits  had  made 
so  acute,  and  the  gradual  emancipation  of 
the  Protestant  subjects  even  of  the  spiritual 
princes.  A  still  more  important  consequence 
was  a  lessening  of  papal  authority  :  episcopa- 
listic  ideas  sprang  up  everywhere,  and  beside 
Gallicanism  we  find  clearly  expressed  the 
*'  natural  rights "    theories    of  men    like   Hugo 


212  The  Papacy 

Grotius  and  Pufendorf,  and  the  doctrine  of 
the  omnipotence  of  the  State. 

The  last-mentioned  ideas  are  to  be  found  in 
a  concentrated  form  in  a  work  on  the  "  State 
of  the  Church  and  the  Legitimate  Power  of 
the  Roman  Pontiff,"  written  in  Latin  by  the 
suffragan  bishop  of  Treves,  Nicholas  von  Hon- 
theim,  and  published  under  the  pseudonym  of 
Justinus  Febronius,  in  1763.  The  author  indi- 
cates on  the  title-page  the  object  of  the  book, 
viz.,  the  reunion  of  the  different  confessions, 
and  for  the  attainment  of  this  object  he  recom- 
mends a  return  to  the  constitution  of  the 
Primitive  Church.  This  was,  indeed,  a  Utopia, 
but  Febronius  supported  it  by  an  exposition 
based  on  wide  reading  in  Dutch,  French,  and 
German,  and  made  a  very  impressive  defence 
of  the  episcopalistic  system.  The  eager  recep- 
tion of  the  book  was  immediately  noted  by 
the  Curia,  and  in  1764  it  was  already  on  the 
Index.  Clement  XIII.  endeavoured,  without 
result,  to  make  Joachim  Philip  of  Treves  take 
measures  against  his  suffragan.  Clement  XIV. 
was  engrossed  by  the  Jesuit  question,  but 
Pius  VI.  took  up  the  matter  again,  and  in 
1778  Clement  Wenzel  of  Treves,  influenced  by 
ex-Jesuits,  obliged  the  almost  octogenarian 
author  to  retract. 

But  the  matter  was   by  no  means  ended  by 


Defeats  213 


Hontheim's  submission.  On  the  contrary,  it 
was  soon  seen  that  the  Febronius  affair  was 
likely  to  have  after-effects  on  ecclesiastical 
politics  that  would  be  very  unpleasant  for  the 
Curia.  In  the  year  1785  Pius  VI.,  by  agree- 
ment with  Charles  Theodore  of  Bavaria,  estab- 
lished a  nunciature  at  Munich.  Bavaria,  which 
was  then  very  scattered,  including,  besides  Old 
Bavaria  and  the  Upper  Palatinate,  the  Pala- 
tinate proper  also,  and  the  Duchies  of  Berg 
and  Jiilich,  had  no  independent  bishop  of  its 
own,  but  was  under  the  ecclesiastical  sway  of 
sovereign  bishops  like  those  of  Cologne  and 
Salzburg.  This  measure,  therefore,  was  as 
comprehensible  as  the  fact  that  the  bishops 
expected  from  it  a  curtailment  of  their  privi- 
leges, since  the  Nuncio,  if  he  were  on  good 
terms  with  the  Government,  could  easily  usurp 
the  jurisdiction  himself.  The  Archbishops  of 
Mayence,  Treves,  Cologne,  and  Salzburg  there- 
fore made  the  Nuncio  question  an  opportu- 
nity for  testing  and  defining  the  rights  of  the 
Pope.  In  the  so-called  "  Punctation "  of  Ems 
(1786)  they  reduced  the  primacy  of  the  Pope, 
as  Febronius  had  done,  to  what  it  had  been 
during  the  early  centuries  of  Christianity,  and 
demanded  the  complete  independence  of  the 
bishops  under  the  protection  of  the  Emperor, 
in  all  questions  affecting  the  national  Churches. 


214  The  Papacy 


It  is  impossible  not  to  sympathise  with 
these  demands.  Had  they  been  made  good,  Tri- 
dentine  Catholicism  would  have  been  rooted 
out.  In  view  of  all  the  enlightenment  shown 
in  the  government  of  the  spiritual  princes, 
we  would  fain  dismiss  the  doubt  whether  they 
were  really  in  earnest  in  their  attempt  to 
shake  off  the  yoke  of  Rome.  Unfortunately, 
however,  it  is  only  too  evident  that  they  were 
inspired  to  a  great  extent  by  selfish  considera- 
tions, and  we  are  justified  in  asking  whether 
the  result  would  not  have  been  merely  a 
change  of  masters  for  the  Church.  The  lesser 
bishops  who  kept  apart,  if  only  because  they 
had  not  been  invited  to  do  otherwise,  were 
not,  perhaps,  wholly  wrong  when,  like  the 
Frankish  bishops  in  the  time  of  the  Pseudo- 
Isidore,  they  preferred  the  rule  of  Rome  to 
that  of  their  powerful  colleagues.  In  any  case 
it  all  came  to  nothing.  The  Archbishop  of 
Mayence,  desiring  from  the  Curia  the  confirma- 
tion of  a  coadjutor  who  was  indispensable 
to  him  for  political  reasons,  very  soon  with- 
drew, and  the  whole  thing  went  to  pieces  in 
consequence.  Pius  had  an  easy  victory.  The 
archbishops  submitted  unconditionally  to  his 
Brief  of  simple  condemnation  of  their  attempt 
(1789).  Then  came  the  storm  of  the  Revolu- 
tion,    and,     when     it     had     swept    past,     the 


Defeats  215 

sovereign  spiritual  princes  were  gone,  and  with 
them  the  plan  of  forming  a  German  national 
Church. 

The  Emperor  Joseph  II.  had  held  out  to  the 
archbishops  the  prospect  of  his  "  entire  co- 
operation and  support  to  the  fullest  extent 
of  his  imperial  duty  as  Defender  of  the 
Church."  In  reality  he  did  nothing,  because 
from  the  standpoint  of  his  belief  in  the  abso- 
lutism of  the  State  he  regarded  any  inde- 
pendent Church  government  as  harmful.  In 
continuation  of  the  reforms  begun  under 
Maria  Theresa,  the  Emperor  had  turned  the 
Austrian  Church  upside  down,  and,  completely 
withdrawing  it  from  Roman  influence,  had 
subordinated  it  to  the  State.  He  had  also 
taken  into  his  own  hands  the  regulation  of 
the  education  of  the  clergy,  of  divine  service, 
and  of  monastic  life.  However  excellent  this 
legislation  was  in  certain  points — it  included 
the  Charter  of  Tolerance  for  the  Protestants 
(1781) — it  had  yet  one  fundamental  defect :  it 
showed  no  understanding  for  the  Church  as 
set  apart  to  nourish  and  carry  on  the  reli- 
gious life  of  the  nation,  and  it  therefore 
wounded  religious  feeling.  But  it  was  taken 
in  hand  with  great  energy,  and  seemed  likely 
to  meet  with  success. 

The  Pope,  highly  disturbed,  decided,  in  order 


2i6  The  Papacy 

to  avert  misfortune,  upon  an  unusual  step. 
He  journeyed  to  Vienna,  and  there  experi- 
enced the  bitterest  disappointment.  Though 
Joseph  at  least  kept  up  appearances  towards 
the  Holy  Father,  his  minister,  Count  Kaunitz, 
did  not  consider  even  that  necessary,  and 
abruptly  declined  any  negotiation  with  the 
Pope.  Completely  unsuccessful,  Pius  returned 
across  the  Alps,  and  it  was  but  small  conso- 
lation to  him  that  the  faithful,  more  because 
of  the  unusual  sight  of  a  Pope  than  out  of  reli- 
gious feeling,  accorded  him  many  an  ovation, 
both  at  Vienna  and  on  his  journey.  Relations 
between  the  Emperor  and  the  Pope  became 
so  strained  that  Pius,  in  naive  misunderstand- 
ing of  the  real  situation,  uttered  threats  of 
excommunication ;  his  letter  was  returned  to 
him  with  the  request  that  he  would  punish 
the  insolent  man  who  had  dared  to  write  it 
in  the  Pope's  name.  It  was  gratifying  for  him 
that  the  Emperor's  reforms  in  Belgium,  which 
at  that  time  belonged  to  Austria,  and  was  a 
lost  province  in  any  case,  were  a  miserable 
fiasco.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  Leopold,  Grand 
Duke  of  Tuscany  by  virtue  of  the  Austrian 
secundogeniture,  supported  by  his  metropoli- 
tan, Scipione  Ricci,  who  took  a  warm  interest 
in  Church  affairs,  dealt  quite  as  ruthlessly 
with   the   papal    prerogatives    as   his  imperial 


Defeats  217 


brother,  whose  edicts   he  maintained  when  he 
succeeded  him  on  the  throne. 

Yet  what  was  all  this  compared  with  the 
great  sorrow  that  came  to  the  Church  and 
her  Head  from  France,  the  emancipated  daugh- 
ter? The  sound  that  had  been  growing  ever 
louder  and  shriller  in  the  ears  of  the  Pope 
since  the  opening  of  the  new  era  in  1789,  was 
the  cry,  raised  years  before  by  Voltaire  and 
now  repeated  by  thousands  and  thousands : 
"  Ecrasez  I'inf ame  !  "  It  was  the  Church  that 
they  meant,  at  first  only  as  the  clerical  organi- 
sation which  had  been  vowed  to  destruction 
because  of  the  moral  corruption  of  the  high 
and  the  superstition  of  the  low,  but  soon  the 
religion  of  the  Church  was  attacked,  and  finally 
Christianity  itself.  To  begin  with,  the  Pope 
kept  silence  on  the  Civil  Constitution  of  the 
Clergy  passed  by  the  National  Assembly  in 
July,  1790,  and  signed  by  the  King  under  com- 
pulsion in  August.  But  when  the  number  of 
the  clergy  who  refused  to  swear  allegiance  to 
the  new  constitution  increased,  and  tens  of 
thousands  preferred  to  go  into  exile  rather 
than  bow  to  the  revolutionary  rule,  Pius  ful- 
filled his  duty  as  Vicar  of  Christ  and  suc- 
cessor of  the  apostles  :  he  condemned  the 
Constitution.  The  Paris  mob  burned  the  Pope 
"  in  efiigie "  and    his    Encyclical    "  in    natura," 


2i8  The  Papacy 

and  the  National  Assembly  seized  Avignon, 
which  had  belonged  to  the  Papacy  since  the 
fourteenth  century. 

And  now  events  crowded  thick  and  fast. 
The  refusal  of  the  Pope  to  allow  the  emblem 
of  the  new  Republic  to  be  publicly  displayed 
in  his  capital,  even  by  the  French  embassy, 
the  popular  tumult  to  which  a  secretary  of  this 
embassy  fell  a  victim,  and  many  other  things, 
embittered  the  political  relations  between 
France  and  the  Holy  See.  Then  the  Pope 
joined  the  First  Coalition  of  the  Powers 
against  France,  and  this  at  last  gave  Bonaparte 
the  welcome  opportunity  of  advancing  on  Rome. 
Negotiations  and  attempts  at  conciliation  cost 
only  money,  land,  and  men;  by  the  Peace  of 
Tolentino  (1797)  Avignon  was  finally,  and 
Bologna,  Ferrara,  and  Romagna  were  tempo- 
rarily, lost  to  the  Papacy.  New  tumults  in 
Rome  led  to  the  declaration  of  the  Republic 
in  February,  1798.  The  sick  old  Pope  was 
dragged  away  to  the  Dauphine,  where  on 
August  29,  1799,  he  died.  Thus  the  century 
ended  with  the  severest  defeat.  The  temporal 
power  of  the  Church  seemed  at  an  end,  the 
rock  of  Peter  was  tottering,  and  the  words 
"  Feed  My  sheep  "  were  drowned  in  the  storm 
of  the  Revolution. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


RECONSTRUCTION 


IN  a  report  of  the  Bavarian  Government 
at  Innsbruck  to  the  ministry  in  Munich, 
made  in  1808,  it  is  stated  that  "amid  constant 
struggles  against  the  secular  power  and  the 
spirit  of  the  century  the  Papacy  in  its  present 
form  is  advancing  to  its  fall,"  and  that  "  a 
division  of  the  two  powers  which  should  rule 
over  the  citizens  of  a  State  is  no  longer 
conceivable,  but  that  everything  points  to  the 
most  complete  concentration  of  the  supreme 
power."  The  course  of  events  in  the  time  of 
Napoleon  seemed  to  justify  this  view. 

It  is  true  that  the  First  Consul  did  not  oppose 
the  return  to  Rome  of  the  new  Pope,  Pius  VII. 
(Barnaba  Luigi,  Count  Chiaramonti,  March  13, 
1800,  to  August  20,  1823),  who  had  just  been 
elected  at  Venice,  and  that  he  showed  him 
much   consideration   both   in    the    negotiations 

regarding    the    reorganisation    of    the    French 

219 


220  The  Papacy- 

Church  and  on  later  occasions.  This  was  of 
course  not  due  to  religious  veneration  nor 
even  to  personal  regard  for  him,  but  solely 
to  reasons  of  policy ;  so  long  as  the  "  little 
coronation  bottle,"  as  Lafayette  put  it,  "  had 
not  been  broken  over  his  head "  Bonaparte 
needed  the  Pope.  Hardly  had  Napoleon  become 
Emperor  and — a  little  later — King  of  Italy, 
when  he  changed  his  tone.  He  used  the 
squabble  which  now  arose  as  a  pretext  for 
declaring  Rome  an  imperial  city  (May,  1809), 
for  uniting  the  rest  of  the  States  of  the  Church 
with  France,  and  for  causing  the  Pope,  who 
excommunicated  the  authors  of  and  partici- 
pators in  this  act  of  sacrilege,  to  be  seized  in 
the  night  of  the  5th  and  6th  of  July  and  taken 
to  Savona,  near  Genoa. 

As  Pius  continued  to  oppose  the  eccle- 
siastical measures  of  the  Emperor,  he  was 
compelled  in  May,  1812,  to  cross  the  Alps  like 
his  predecessor.  He  was  so  ill  that  the  last 
sacraments  were  administered ;  but  even  that 
made  no  difference  in  the  rough  way  in 
which  he  was  treated.  Arrived  at  Fontaine- 
bleau,  he  agreed,  under  great  pressure,  in 
January,  1813,  to  terms  that  menaced  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Papal  See,  only  to  retract 
them  a  few  weeks  later,  tortured  with  the 
keenest   remorse.     Meanwhile    the    great    turn 


Reconstruction  221 

in  Napoleon's  fortunes  had  begun.  The  reverses 
of  1813  obliged  the  Emperor  to  adopt  a  more 
conciliatory  tone  towards  the  Pope.  In  March, 
1814,  Pius,  who  w^as  then  again  at  Savona,  was 
released,  and  on  May  29th  he  re-entered  Rome. 
The  people  greeted  him  with  shouts  of  joy : 
life  under  the  Pope's  rule  was  easy,  and  no 
one  wept  over  the  fall  of  the  French,  who, 
in  spite  of  the  short  time  they  had  been  in 
possession,  had  brought  many  noteworthy 
improvements  in  government,  coupled,  indeed, 
with  no  small  burden  of  taxation. 

The  rapid  recovery  of  the  Papacy  from  its 
unparalleled  defeat  will  always  remain  an 
astonishing  fact.  If,  with  Ranke,  we  look 
upon  the  period  of  the  Restoration  as  a 
reaction  of  Germany  and  the  North  against 
the  revolutionised  Romance  nations,  it  is  not 
very  clear  how  the  Papacy  could  hope  for 
special  advantages  from  this  reaction.  But 
the  solidarity  of  throne  and  altar  which  is  to 
be  traced  at  that  time  behind  every  measure 
for  the  restoration  of  what  had  been  destroyed 
or  shaken,  had  a  determining  influence  on  the 
relations  of  the  States  with  Rome.  In  fact, 
the  diplomats  of  the  Vienna  Congress  showed 
themselves  imbued  with  unlimited  respect  for 
the  oldest  and  most  legitimate  of  monarchies — 
for    as    such    they   regarded    the    Roman    See. 


222  The  Papacy 


The  Papacy  was  therefore  once  more  firmly 
established,  the  States  of  the  Church  being 
restored  to  it  by  the  Act  of  Confederation  of 
June  8,  1815,  though  without  the  town  of 
Avignon  and  with  some  small  concessions  to 
Austria. 

Pius   alone  would    have   been   unable   to   do 
much    with    the    gift.      He    cannot    be    better 
described     than    in    the    words    of    Napoleon: 
"  He  is  a  lamb,  truly  a  good  creature,  an  angel 
of  goodness."     His  horizon  was  narrow  in  both 
religious     and     worldly    matters,    but    not    so 
narrow  that  he  could  not  gauge  the  value  of 
a   faithful    servant.     The   confidence   which,    in 
spite  of   all  attacks,  he  reposed  to  the  day  of 
his  death  in    the   Marquis   Ercole   Consalvi,  to 
whom    he    owed    his    election    and    whom    he 
immediately  made  a  cardinal  and  his  Secretary 
of   State,   was   not   only   rather   touching  from 
a  human  point  of  view,  but  was  also  noteworthy 
historically     on     account     of     the    exceptional 
importance  of   that   minister.     Consalvi  stands 
in   the   front   rank   of   the   diplomatists  of   the 
Reaction  as  much  by  his  qualities  as  a  states- 
man as  by  his  successes.     Quite  at  the  beginning 
of  the   reign   of   Pius   he   had   concluded    with 
the  French  Republic  the  Concordat  (1801)  which 
restored   the   Catholic    Church   in   France,   and 
at    the    same      time      made     her    completely 


Reconstruction  223 

subordinate  to  the  Pope  by  abandoning  the 
principles  of  Gallicanism.  As  Nuncio  in  Vienna 
he  had  looked  after  the  interests  of  the  Curia 
and  had  been  successful  in  his  efforts  to 
restore  the  state  of  affairs  of  the  pre-Revolution 
period  by  concluding  Concordats  with  the 
Catholic  Powers  in  which  all  aspirations  after 
the  creation  of  a  national  Church  were  repressed. 
Where,  however,  as  in  the  Protestant  parts 
of  Germany,  wholly  new  conditions  were 
created  by  the  secularisation  (1803)  of  the 
spiritual  princedoms,  he  managed  to  obtain 
the  greatest  possible  advantage  for  the  Church. 
At  the  same  time  he  endeavoured  to  improve 
the  economic  condition  of  the  papal  territories 
entrusted  to  his  care  by  a  system  of  administra- 
tion approaching  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the 
modern  conception  of  the  State.  He  failed, 
however,  to  prove  that  this  last  remnant  of 
the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  was  anything 
but  an  anomaly  among  the  other  States. 

Still,  however  highly  we  may  rate  Consalvi's 
work,  the  sway  over  the  minds  of  men  which 
the  Papacy  had  lost  during  the  Revolutionary 
period  was  not  to  be  won  back  by  good 
administrative  methods.  Other  forces  were 
needed  for  that.  The  restoration  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  was  perhaps  the  most  im- 
portant act   of   the   reign    of    Pius   VII.      The 


224  The  Papacy 


Pope  had  hardly  settled  down  again  in  Rome 
when  by  the  brief  "  Sollicitudo  omnium  ecclesi- 
arum"  ("the  care  for  all  the  churches")  of 
August  7,  1814,  he  revoked  the  decree  con- 
demning the  Society  which  his  predecessor, 
Clement  XIV.  "  of  happy  memory,"  had  issued. 
Like  him,  he  made  his  ordinance  binding  for 
all  time,  declaring,  moreover,  any  attempt  to 
alter  it  null  and  void.  In  contrast  with 
Clement,  Pius  speaks  of  the  great  results 
obtained  by  the  Order,  and  says  that  he  would 
be  guilty  of  a  grave  crime  if  he  were  to 
reject  the  aid  of  the  strong  and  experienced 
mariners  who  volunteer  to  rescue  the  Barque 
of  Peter  from  the  winds  and  waves.  From 
his  point  of  view  he  was  undoubtedly  right, 
and  those  in  power  shared  it  to  a  great 
extent.  The  following  remarks  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  I.,  who  re-admitted  the  Jesuits  as 
early  as  1815,  have  been  handed  down  to  us. 
"  I  am  persuaded  that  the  Jesuits  are  alone 
able  to  defy  a  revolution.  As  I  am  resolved 
to  use  my  last  man  and  my  last  coin  to 
crush  the  Revolution,  it  follows  that  I  give  the 
Jesuits  liberty  of  action  in  my  territories." 

Nor  was  it  only  the  rulers'  and  the  states- 
men's fear  of  the  Revolution  that  cleared 
the  way  for  Jesuitism  and  papalism ;  almost 
more   important   was    the   change   in   the    atti- 


Reconstruction  225 

tude  of  poets  and  thinkers.  From  the  begin- 
ning, the  French  and  German  Romanticists 
had  seen  in  the  Revolution  the  working  of  that 
force  which  always  desires  evil  and  does  good. 
According  to  Saint-Martin  it  had  expelled  the 
contagium  from  mankind,  in  which  contagium 
he  certainly  included  the  Church  and  Crown. 
For  Novalis  anarchy  was  the  condition  that 
produced  Religion,  who,  after  the  destruction 
of  everything  positive,  raises  her  glorious  head 
as  a  new  founder  of  the  world.  Thinkers 
came  more  and  more  to  see,  with  him,  salvation 
in  an  "enduring  Church,  gathering  into  her 
lap  all  souls  that  thirst  after  spiritual  things, 
and  once  more  pouring  forth  abundant  bless- 
ings on  the  nations."  Novalis  prophesied  in 
his  time  that  the  Society  of  Jesus,  "  which  now 
(1800)  slumbers  wretchedly  on  the  borders  of 
Europe,  will  spread  thence  with  new  power 
over  its  old  home "  ;  he  held  in  readiness  the 
bolt  of  excommunication  which  the  Popes  of 
the  nineteenth  century  have  repeatedly  hurled 
against  progressive  philosophy  and  science. 

Papalism  soon  found  a  classical  exponent  in 
literature.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  Count  Joseph 
de  Maistre,  who  was  closely  connected  with 
the  Jesuits,  to  show  the  world  in  his  book 
"Du  Pape"  (1819),  what  it  possessed  in  the 
Pope    and    how     salvation    was     only    to     be 

15 


226  The  Papacy 

hoped  for  from  Rome.  De  Maistre  is  an 
absolutist  to  the  core ;  a  government  that  is 
not  a  monarchy,  and,  if  a  monarchy,  not  a 
despotism,  is  no  government;  that  is  as  true 
of  temporal  as  of  spiritual  governments,  of 
kings  as  of  the  Pope.  But  secular  sovereignty 
has  an  inherent  limitation ;  it  has  not  the 
promise  of  righteousness,  though  it  strives 
to  rule  righteously.  Self-help  is,  in  face  of 
this,  impossible  —  revolution  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. The  infallible  Pope,  who  as  Vicar  of 
Christ  is  inherently  righteous,  is  the  true  medi- 
ator between  prince  and  people,  and  princes 
have  no  reason  to  oppose  his  interference,  for 
it  is  only  great  offences  that  call  forth  the 
censure  of  the  Pope.  The  echo  which  these 
statements  found  in  Germany  is  best  shown 
by  the  words  of  the  editor  of  the  translation 
set  on  foot  by  Friedrich  August  Schlegel : 
"  Without  the  Pope  there  can  be  no  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  order  of  society  is  inevitably 
injured  in  its  most  vital  part."  In  Italy  Carlo 
Fea  again  asserted  that  the  Pope  was  above 
kings  even  in  secular  matters.  It  is  signifi- 
cant that  the  prudent  Consalvi  refused  the 
Imprimatur  to  Fea's  work. 

After  the  death  of  Pius,  Consalvi's  part  was 
played  out.  With  Leo  XII.  (Annibale  della 
Genga,  September  28,  1823  to  February  10,  1829) 


Reconstruction  227 

the  party  of  the  "Zelanti"  (i.e.,  zealots,  in- 
transigeants)  came  into  power — the  party 
which  had  always  been  irritated  by  the  rule 
of  the  "  liberal "  or,  better  perhaps,  oppor- 
tunist Secretary  of  State.  Fea's  book  was  now 
printed,  and  the  Dominican  Anfossi's  views  on 
secularisation,  which  Consalvi  had  likewise 
kept  back,  also  saw  the  light.  This  indicated 
the  programme  of  the  party,  as  did  also  the 
first  Encychcal  of  Leo  (April  5,  1824).  This 
letter  condemned  not  only  the  Bible  Societies 
already  stigmatised  by  Pius  VII.  (June  4,  1816) 
as  a  "horrible  invention  that  undermined  the 
foundations  of  religion,"  but  also  "Tolerantism" 
or  "  Indifferentism,"  i.e.,  the  doctrine  that  men 
might  join  any  religious  sect  without  prejudice 
to  their  salvation.  Leo  was,  it  is  true,  wise 
enough  to  have  himself  initiated  into  the 
secrets  of  statecraft  by  the  dying  Consalvi, 
but  neither  he  nor  his  advisers  were  capable 
of  carrying  on  what  the  great  Cardinal  had 
begun.  So  the  openings  silted  up,  a  govern- 
ment of  reckless  reaction  replaced  a  skilful 
and  prudent  administration,  and  the  more  the 
liberal  movement  began  to  make  itself  felt, 
the  tighter  the  reins  were  drawn.  The  Pope 
ruled  in  frivolous  Rome  with  a  harshness  that 
recalled  Calvin.  "  Other  Popes  also,"  says 
Ranke,  who  was  then  searching  for  documents 


22  8  The  Papacy 

in  Rome,  "  have  made  themselves  hated,  but 
they  always  had  a  few  followers.  Leo  XII. 
was  hated  by  all,  frora  the  prince  to  the 
beggar ;  no  one  was  friendly  to  him."  And 
when  he  died  in  the  midst  of  the  Carnival 
festivities  popular  wit  expressed  itself  thus : 
"  The  Holy  Father  inflicted  three  ills  upon  us — 
he  accepted  the  crown,  he  lived  long,  and,  by 
his  death,  he  spoilt  the  Carnival." 

The  election  of  Pius  VIII.  (Francesco  Xaverio 
Castiglioni,  March  31, 1829  to  November  30, 1830) 
was  the  result  of  a  compromise  with  Austria 
and  France.  This  good  man,  who  in  his  senti- 
mental scrupulosity  hesitated  to  confer  the 
title  of  Doctor  of  the  Church  on  St.  Bernard 
of  Clairvaux,  because  he  also  belonged  to  the 
Castiglioni  (Chatillon)  family,  did  not  reign 
long  enough  to  make  an  impression.  His  suc- 
cessor, Gregory  XVI.  (Bartolommeo  Cappellari, 
February  2,  1831  to  June  1,  1846),  however,  was 
a  hierarch  of  the  old  school,  who  tried  to  do 
honour  to  the  famous  men  who  had  borne  his 
name.  He  was  born  well  back  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century  (1765),  and  had,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  entered  the  strict  Order  of  the  Ca- 
maldolites.  In  the  same  year  in  which  the 
imprisoned  Pius  VI.  ended  his  sorrowful  life, 
Cappellari,  then  called  Father  Mauro,  wrote 
a   book   in   honour    of    the    "  Triumph   of  the 


Reconstruction  229 

Church  and  the  Holy  See  over  the  attacks  of 
Innovators."  In  1823  he  became  General  of 
his  Order ;  in  1826  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda. 
What  he  had  written  as  a  young  man  he  en- 
deavoured to  realise  as  Pontiff.  He  was  a 
man  of  no  inconsiderable  ability,  and  was  said 
to  be  learned  not  only  in  scholastic  philosophy 
but  also  in  science  and  history.  It  is  perhaps 
due  to  his  great  interest  in  geometry  that 
the  names  of  Copernicus  and  Galileo  were 
removed  from  the  Index  in  his  reign.  But  he 
was  also  the  sworn  foe  of  everything  modern. 
To  the  great  joy  of  artists  and  all  romantically 
inclined  Catholics  and  Protestants,  he  resolved 
that  his  Rome  should  remain  the  city  of 
ancient  and  mediaeval  times — the  Rome  that 
ever  conquered  the  world  afresh  with  her  in- 
comparable attractions.  Other  countries  might 
be  cut  up  by  railway  lines ;  they  were  not 
tolerated  in  the  States  of  the  Church  any  more 
than  lighting  by  gas.  In  the  government  re- 
action boldly  raised  its  head.  All  critics  are 
unanimous  that  the  rule  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  Lambruschini,  was  gradually  leading  to 
utter  ruin.  Gregory  himself  seems  to  have  had 
a  feeling  that  things  could  not  go  on  as  they 
were.  He  is  said  to  have  declared  :  "  The  civil 
administration  of  the  Roman  States  needs  a 
great   reform,   but  I   was    too    old   when   they 


230  The  Papacy 

elected  me  Pope  ;  I  did  not  expect  to  live  so 
long,  and  had  not  the  courage  to  begin  the 
work.  For  he  who  begins  must  also  carry  it 
through." 

No  signs  of  such  weakness  were  visible  in  the 
old  Pope's  government  of  the  Church  in  general ; 
on  the  contrary  Gregory's  numerous  Encyclicals 
and  Briefs  breathe  the  unbending  spirit  of  the 
successor  of  St.  Peter  who  is  fully  conscious 
of  his  high  office.  It  is  true  that  we  do  not 
know  how  far  his  pen  was  guided  by  the 
Jesuits,  who  had  a  new  Aquaviva  at  that  time 
in  the  person  of  the  Dutchman,  John  Philip 
van  Roothaan  (1829-53).  In  any  case  the  ponti- 
ficate of  Gregory  shows  an  increase  of  Jesuit 
influence  all  along  the  line.  The  Pastoral 
Letter  of  August  15,  1832,  is  a  manifesto  of 
this  influence.  With  its  condemnation  of 
liberty  of  conscience  and  of  the  press,  it  is 
perhaps  the  most  important,  at  all  events  the 
most  characteristic,  precursor  of  the  Encyclical 
and  Syllabus  of  1864.  Under  Jesuit  influence 
ultramontanism  once  more  stretched  out  its 
claws  towards  Germany.  At  that  time  the 
light  of  Wessenberg  and  Spiegel,  of  Hermes 
and  Baader  went  out,  and  that  of  Droste  and 
Dunin,  Gorres  and  Jarcke  shone  brightly  forth. 
New  stars  pointed  the  way  across  the  Alps  to 
Rome,    where     the     Collegium     Germanicum — 


Reconstruction  231 

re-established  in  1818 — received  a  yearly  in- 
creasing number  of  red-coated  pupils,  and  where 
Giovanni  Perrone  taught  the  standard  papal 
theology  in  the  Gregorian  University,  restored 
to  the  Jesuits  in  1824.  The  year  1835,  in 
which  Gregory  XVI.  condemned  the  writings  of 
Georg  Hermes,  professor  at  Bonn,  as  those  of 
a  "  teacher  of  error,"  was  an  "  annus  nefastus, 
a  year  of  misfortune  for  Catholic  theology  in 
Germany, 

Had  the  Bourbons  remained  in  power  in 
France  the  success  of  the  Romanist  movement 
would  have  been  even  more  rapid.  The  Con- 
cordat of  1801  was  on  the  high-road  to  giving 
place  to  that  of  1516,  and  to  the  abandonment 
of  the  last  remains  of  the  Galilean  Articles.  The 
Jesuits  were  everywhere  active.  Then  came 
the  July  Revolution,  and  with  it  a  new  wave 
of  disaster  for  the  Society.  With  a  heavy  heart 
Gregory  found  himself  obliged  to  advise  the 
General  to  dissolve  the  French  division  of  the 
Order.  He  also  had  to  see  the  Abbe  Lamennais, 
who  had  been  convinced  by  the  study  of  De 
Maistre  that  in  the  Pope  was  summed  up  the 
collective  intelligence  of  humanity,  and  who 
was  to  have  received  a  cardinal's  hat  in  recog- 
nition thereof,  advance,  under  the  influence  of 
the  Revolution  and  the  Bourgeois  monarchy,  to 
such  radical  views  as  left  at  last  no  room  for 


232  The  Papacy 


either  Pope  or  Church.  On  the  other  hand 
Lamennais'  pupil,  the  Dominican  Lacordaire, 
became  a  new  advocate  of  papalism.  But  the 
distrustful  Curia  soon  took  offence  at  the  burn- 
ing eloquence  with  which  he  preached,  from  the 
pulpit  of  Notre  Dame,  the  reconciliation  of 
Romanism  with  the  principles  of  modern  cul- 
ture. Satisfaction  at  the  increasingly  visible 
advance  of  the  Jesuits  in  Belgium  and  Ireland, 
however,  afforded  some  compensation  for  this, 
while  the  spread  of  Roman  Catholicism  in 
England,  where  it  had  been  given  free 
play  since  the  Act  of  Emancipation  of  1829, 
awakened  bold  hopes  in  Rome. 

During  all  this  time  the  revolutionary  move- 
ment had  been  smouldering  in  Italy.  It  was 
not  only  directed  against  the  reactionary  native 
Governments,  but  aspired  also  to  free  Italy 
from  the  foreign  domination  of  Austria.  At 
first  it  was  the  much  persecuted  Carbonari  (char- 
coal-burners, so  called  because  of  their  secret 
rites),  and,  after  the  middle  of  the  thirties,  the 
"  Young  Italy  "  of  Giuseppe  Mazzini,  that  strove 
for  the  "  Risorgimento  "  (resurrection),  with  the 
motto  of  "  Unity,  Freedom,  Independence." 
Though  these  men  saw  no  hope  except  in  the 
complete  abolition  of  the  papal  rule,  others 
hoped  for  a  happy  future  from  the  reform  of 
the    Papacy    and    its    reconciliation    with    the 


Reconstruction  233 

modern  spirit.  In  the  midst  of  an  ever-increas- 
ing circle  of  like-minded  men  the  refined  and 
sensitive  Antonio  Rosmini  worked  towards  his 
ideal  of  cleansing  the  Church,  of  raising  the 
priesthood,  and  inaugurating  a  religious  Papacy, 
to  which  he  would  certainly  have  given  the 
leadership  even  in  secular  affairs.  With  all 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  dreamer,  Vincenzo 
Gioberti  publicly  advocated  a  confederacy  of 
Italian  States  with  the  Pope  at  its  head  as 
Doge  and  Gonfaloniere,  the  arbitrator  and 
peacemaker  for  all  Europe,  the  teacher  and 
educator  of  the  world,  the  spiritual  father  of 
the  human  race.  As  a  sober  politician  Cesare 
Balbo  tried  to  reduce  this  dream  to  what  he 
considered  possible,  recommending  a  Lombard 
Confederatiop  with  Sardinia  at  its  head ;  but 
he  also  only  looked  upon  Sardinia  as  the  sword, 
the  heart  of  Italy  was  the  Pope. 

There  came  a  time  when  these  "  hopes  of 
Italy "  seemed  likely  to  be  fulfilled — the  first 
years  of  the  pontificate  of  Pius  IX.  (June  16, 
1846  to  February  7,  1878).  Giovanni  Maria,  of 
the  noble  family  of  the  Mastai-Ferretti,  born 
on  May  13,  1792,  at  Sinigaglia,  had  made  his 
way  rapidly :  under  Leo  XII.,  who  loved  him 
for  his  amiability,  he  was  made  Archbishop  of 
Spoleto,  in  1832  he  became  Bishop  of  Imola,  in 
1840  Cardinal.      As  no  one  wished  for  a  Pope 


2  34  The  Papacy 

belonging  to  the  "fossilised"  party  of  Gregory, 
or  for  an  avowed  champion  of  liberty,  Mastai, 
who  was  pliant  and  eloquent,  and  who  could 
be  relied  upon  to  make  reforms  without  going 
too  fast,  seemed  very  suitable.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  the  new  Pope  showed  himself  ready  to 
adopt  liberal  ideas,  though  the  reactionary 
followers  of  Gregory  in  the  Sacred  College 
gave  him  no  peace ;  in  March,  1848,  he  made 
offers  of  a  kind  of  constitution,  and  the  people 
were  jubilant.  But  the  enthusiasm  died  away 
very  quickly  when  Pius,  instead  of  putting  him- 
self at  the  head  of  the  national  movement 
after  Charles  Albert  of  Sardinia's  declaration 
of  war  against  Austria,  announced  in  an 
Encyclical  on  April  29,  1848,  that  he  could  not 
fight  against  a  Catholic  Power.  His  popularity 
was  immediately  at  an  end.  The  Mazzinists 
gained  the  upper  hand  in  Rome,  the  noble- 
mined  Pellegrino  Rossi,  who  was  familiar  with 
the  ideas  of  Gioberti  and  Rosmini,  and  who  had 
been  made  a  minister  by  the  Pope  in  September, 
fell  a  victim  to  the  knife  of  a  revolutionist  on 
November  15th,  as  he  was  going  to  a  sitting 
of  the  Chamber.  Pius  himself  was  hard  pressed 
in  the  Quirinal ;  the  bullets  even  fell  into  his 
anteroom.  On  November  24th  he  fled  secretly  to 
Gaeta  in  the  Neapolitan  territory  The  Republic 
was  proclaimed  in  Rome  on  February  9,  1849. 


Reconstruction  235 

Meanwhile  the  Austrians  had  succeeded  in 
suppressing  the  rising  in  North  Italy.  The 
victories  of  Radetzky  at  Custozza  (July  25,  1848) 
and  Novara  (March  23,  1849)  led  to  the  abdica- 
tion of  Charles  Albert ;  Lombardy  and  Venetia 
were  reunited  to  Austria.  This  and  the  aversion 
of  the  Powers  to  a  centralised  republic  stood 
the  Pope,  who  had  called  Austria,  France,  Spain, 
and  Naples  to  his  help,  in  good  stead.  France 
was  entrusted  with  armed  intervention ;  Marshal 
Gudinot  defeated  Garibaldi,  and  on  July  14th 
the  papal  Government  was  restored.  Pius  did 
not  return  to  Rome  till  April  12,  1850 ;  his  heart 
was  hardened  against  liberalism. 

Pious  but  superstitious,  ignorant  though  not 
untalented,  he  seemed  predestined  to  be  the 
tool  of  the  Jesuits.  For  many  years  the  Order 
had  put  forth  all  its  energies  to  secure  through- 
out Catholic  Christendom  the  acceptance  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  universal  episcopate  and  infalli- 
bility of  the  Pope.  "Before  1848,"  writes  the 
Old  Catholic  von  Schulte,  who  can  speak  from 
his  own  experience,  "  the  Pope  was  only  men- 
tioned in  schools  when  absolutely  necessary. 
Before  1848  I  never  heard  a  sermon  about  the 
States  of  the  Church  or  anything  similar.  But 
since  1848  more  sermons  have  been  preached 
about  them  in  many  places  than  about  the 
gospel."      In    England,    where     since     1853    an 


236  The  Papacy 


organised  hierarchy  once  more  existed,  people 
began  to  talk  about  "  devotion  to  the  Pope." 
"  The  sovereign  Pontiff,"  said  the  Oratorian 
Faber  in  a  sermon,  "  is  the  third  visible  presence 
of  Jesus  Christ  among  us,  the  visible  shadow 
that  proceeds  from  the  invisible  Head  of  the 
Church  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament."  The  Latin 
countries  went  even  further  than  Germany  and 
England.  It  is  enough  to  recall  what  occurred 
in  France  and  the  language  of  the  agitator 
Louis  Veuillot,  whose  journal,  the  Univers, 
became  the  mouthpiece  of  ultramontane  aspira- 
tions. Peculiar  zeal  was  shown  by  the  Jesuits, 
under  the  leadership  after  1853  of  the  Belgian 
Pierre  Jean  Beckx,  the  "black  Pope."  The 
Civilta  Cattolica,  founded  in  Naples  in  1850 
and  shortly  after  transferred  to  Rome,  became 
the  principal  organ  of  their  new  journalism, 
intended  for  the  laity  as  well  as  the  clergy. 
This  paper  soon  won  the  special  favour  of  the 
Pope,  who  found  in  it  sentences  like  the  follow- 
ing :  "  When  the  Pope  thinks,  it  is  God  who 
thinks  in  him." 

The  solemn  proclamation  by  the  Pope,  in 
St.  Peter's  on  December  8,  1854,  of  the  dogma 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  i.e.,  the  definition  as  an  article  of  faith 
of  the  doctrine  that  Mary  was  conceived  without 
inheriting    the    guilt    of   Adam    or    any   sinful 


Reconstruction  237 

tendency  whatever,  marked  an  important  ad- 
vance in  the  triumphant  march  of  papalism. 
The  Pope,  who  from  his  youth  had  been  a 
fervent  worshipper  of  the  Mother  of  God,  may 
well  have  regarded  this  proclamation  as  a 
peculiarly  important  duty.'  To  those  who  con- 
ducted affairs  in  the  Quirinal  and  the  Vatican 
it  was  at  least  equally  important  as  a  feeler 
for  what  the  Catholic  world  would  accept  from 
the  Pope  unsupported  by  a  council.  The  Jesuit 
Schrader  rightly  says  :  "  The  independent  defini- 
tion of  a  dogma  includes  at  the  same  time,  not 
indeed  explicitly  and  formally,  but  none  the  less 
undoubtedly  and  positively,  another  dogmatic 
decision,  viz.,  that  of  the  disputed  question 
whether  the  Pope  is  in  his  own  person  infallible 
in  matters  of  faith,  or  whether  he  can  claim 
this  infallibility  only  at  the  head  of  a  council." 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  Catholic  world  had 
already  been  so  skilfully  prepared  that  no  oppo- 
sition worth  mentioning  was  made,  and  thus 
the  justice  of  the  second  claim  was  tacitly 
acknowledged. 

The  well-known  Encyclical  "  Quanta  cura " 
("  With  what  care  ")  of  December  8,  1864,  comes 
under  the  same  head.  It  contains  variations 
of  what  had  already  been  said  in  previous 
Encyclicals  of  Gregory  XVI.  and  of  Pius  himself, 
with   a  strong    emphasis   on    the    theory   that 


238  The  Papacy 

obedience  is  due  to  the  judgments  and  decisions 
of  the  Holy  See  not  only  in  matters  of  faith 
and  morals  but  also  in  questions  of  law  and 
discipline,  since  refusal  to  yield  such  obedience 
is  contrary  to  the  Catholic  doctrine  "of  the 
power  divinely  granted  to  the  Roman  Pope  by 
the  Lord  Christ  Himself  to  tend,  to  guide,  and 
to  rule  the  whole  Church."  In  order  to  prevent 
all  doubt  as  to  the  particular  applications  of 
this  principle  a  "statement  of  the  chief  errors 
of  our  time"  was  added  to  the  Encyclical.  In 
the  eighty  clauses — carefully  grouped  into  ten 
sections — of  this  document — which  has  become 
famous  under  its  Latin  designation  of  "Syllabus" 
— all  the  achievements  of  modern  times  in  the 
direction  of  freedom  of  religion  and  conscience 
are  passed  in  review,  and  the  statement  cul- 
minates in  the  condemnation  of  the  following 
proposition:  "The  Roman  Pope  can  and  ought 
to  reconcile  and  adapt  himself  to  progress,  to 
liberalism,  and  to  modern  culture."  The  whole 
significance  of  this  Syllabus  can  only  be  rightly 
appreciated  when  it  is  read  in  the  light  of  the 
numerous  Jesuit  publications  of  the  time. 

The  theory  that  "the  abolition  of  the  tem- 
poral power  of  the  Holy  See  will  conduce  in 
the  highest  degree  to  the  freedom  and  welfare 
of  the  Church "  is  also  among  the  errors  con- 
demned  by  this   document,  which   proves   how 


Reconstruction  239 

strong  was  the  Pope's  self-confidence.  This  very- 
question  was  becoming  ripe  for  decision,  though 
not  in  the  sense  of  Pius. 

While  still  at  Gaeta  the  Pope  had  appointed 
as  Secretary  of  State  Giacomo  Antonelli,  a  man 
who  belonged  to  a  family  of  doubtful  reputation 
in  Sonnino,  a  haunt  of  robbers,  and  was  not 
burdened  with  many  scruples.  Antonelli  had 
been  at  the  head  of  the  March  Ministry  and  had 
resigned  with  his  coUeages  when  Pius  refused 
to  ally  himself  with  Sardinia.  He  understood 
the  signs  of  the  times  and  followed  his  papal 
master  into  the  reactionary  camp.  The  govern- 
ment of  the  Papal  States  was  now  in  his  hands, 
and  he  only  allowed  the  Pope  to  see  the  work- 
ing of  it  when  he  pleased.  His  system  of  police 
and  his  dishonest  administration  increased  the 
revolutionary  feeling,  the  strength  of  which  was 
also  augmented  by  the  course  of  events  in 
Italy. 

The  progress  of  Nemesis  is  easy  to  follow. 
The  war  of  France  and  Sardinia  against  Austria 
follows  the  alliance  between  Victor  Emmanuel 
and  Napoleon  III.  arranged  by  Count  Cavour  at 
Plombieres.  In  a  few  months  Lombardy  is  lost 
to  the  Empire,  the  plan — considered  as  late  as 
the  Peace  of  Ziirich  (November  10,  1859) — of  an 
Italian  confederation  with  the  Pope  at  its  head 
has    been    thrown    overboard ;     the    Sardinian 


240  The  Papacy 


troops  enter  Tuscany,   Parma,  and,  greeted  by 
the    shouts   of    the    insurgent    population,   Ro- 
magna;    Garibaldi's   volunteers    break    up    the 
kingdom   of   Naples,   and   Victor   Emmanuel   is 
proclaimed  King  of  Italy  (March  17,  1861).     The 
Pope-King  ("il   papa   re")   sees   his   possessions 
reduced  to  a  third   of  what  they  were,  and  is 
not  even  sure  of  keeping  that.     It  is  discussed 
in   numerous    pamphlets   whether  it  were  not 
better  to   end  his  rule   altogether.     How,  asks 
Lagueronniere,    can    the   head    of    the   Church, 
who  excommunicates  heretics,  and  the  head  of 
a   State,  whose   duty  is  to   uphold  freedom   of 
conscience,  be  one  and   the  same  person?     Let 
the  Pope  be  guaranteed  the  possession  of  Rome 
and  the  heritage  of  St.  Peter,  give  him  a  con- 
siderable  sum   for   his   expenses   of  ceremonial 
and  defence,  so  that  he  may  stand  free  as  the 
head  of  two  hundred  million  Catholics,  but  take 
from   him   the    temporal   sovereignty.      Others 
advise    him    to    leave   Rome   and    take   up   his 
residence  at  Avignon,  Malta,  Bamberg,  or  even 
Jerusalem.     Others  again  still  dream  of  reforms 
or  adopt  Cavour's  idea  of  a  free  Church  in  a 
free  State. 

All  this  Pius  heeds  not.  Failing  temporal 
help,  perhaps  Heaven  will  favour  him.  At 
Whitsuntide,  1862,  he  assembles  his  Cardinals 
and  hundreds    of    his    bishops   for    a   meeting 


Reconstruction  241 

of  protest ;  they  declare  unanimously  that  the 
Pope's  temporal  power  may  not  be  touched. 
The  Pope  canonises  the  twenty-six  martys  who 
perished  in  the  great  persecution  in  Japan 
(1597),  and  in  his  address  to  the  Cardinals 
declares  that  he  hopes  thereby  to  gain  new 
intercessors  with  God.  France  and  Italy  re- 
main unmoved.  Napoleon  presses  his  protec- 
tion on  the  Pope  and  French  troops  occupy 
Rome,  which  is  threatened  by  Garibaldi.  In 
the  Convention  of  September,  1864,  the  Em- 
peror tells  Victor  Emmanuel  that  he  is  ready 
to  withdraw  his  men  within  two  years,  if  the 
King  will  protect  the  Holy  City.  The  Pope 
is  not  consulted.  Then  the  Austro-Prussian 
War  breaks  out.  Austria  is  crushed,  Italy,  the 
ally  of  Prussia,  gains  Venice,  Garibaldi  again 
advances  against  Rome  and  is  once  more  driven 
back  with  the  aid  of  the  French.  But  the  star 
of  France  too  grows  dim.  The  German  victories 
in  the  summer  of  1870  free  Italy  from  the 
necessity  of  considering  the  Emperor,  and  on 
September  20th  the  red  white  and  green  flag 
waves  on  the  Capitol.  In  the  plebiscite  of 
October  2nd  only  a  few  voices  are  raised 
against  the  incorporation  of  Rome  with  Italy, 
and  on  June  2,  1871,  the  King  is  able  to  enter 
his  new  capital.  By  that  time  the  Guarantee 
Law  had  already  been  passed  (May  13th),  allowing 

16 


242  The  Papacy 

the  Pope  complete  freedom  in  the  exercise  of 
his  spiritual  authority,  a  generous  civil  list, 
and  the  entire  disposal  of  the  Vatican,  the 
Lateran,  and  Castel  Gandolfo  on  the  lake  of 
Albano.  For  Pius  the  law  did  not  exist ;  he 
preferred  to  play  the  part  of  the  prisoner  in 
the  Vatican. 

At  the  very  time,  however,  when  the  papal 
kingdom  came  to  an  end,  the  Vatican  itself 
had  been  the  scene  of  the  greatest  ecclesiastical 
triumph.  Two  days  before  the  publication  of 
the  Encyclical  "  Quanta  cura "  Pius  had  given 
his  Cardinals  the  first  intimation  that  he  in- 
tended to  use  the  extraordinary  means  of  a 
general  council  to  meet  the  extraordinary 
needs  of  the  Church.  It  is  a  disputed  question 
who  suggested  this  to  him,  and  possibly  he 
thought  of  it  himself.  But  for  one  who  re- 
members the  utterances  of  the  Civiltd, 
Cattolica  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  although 
no  particular  subject  for  discussion  was  men- 
tioned, the  "  extraordinary  needs  "  meant  only 
the  establishment  as  a  dogma  of  the  universal 
episcopate  of  the  Pope  and  of  his  infallibility — 
in  the  sense  of  the  Encyclical  and  the  Syllabus. 
The  announcement  of  a  council  caused  general 
surprise  and  evoked  the  most  varied  expressions 
of  opinion.  It  was  also  soon  seen  that  the 
party   in   favour   of    infallibility   must  be   pre- 


Reconstruction  243 

pared  for  great  opposition  :  in  England,  France 
and  not  least  in  Germany,  where  Dollinger  took 
the  lead,  numerous  writers  set  to  work  to  warn 
men  against  the  enormity  that  Rome  was 
planning. 

In  the  Bull  "  ^terni  Patris  Unigenitus " 
("The  only  begotten  [son]  of  the  Eternal 
Father"),  which  on  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul's 
Day,  1868,  summoned  the  council  for  December 
8,  1869,  nothing  was  said,  naturally  enough, 
of  any  such  desire  to  formulate  a  dogma. 
Allusion  was  only  made  in  general  terms  to 
what  "  in  these  troublous  times  was  to  be 
carefully  tested  and  established  with  a  view 
to  the  honour  of  God  and  the  safety  of  the 
faith,  the  beauty  of  divine  worship  and  the 
eternal  salvation  of  mankind,  the  discipline 
and  education  of  the  secular  and  regular  clergy, 
the  observance  of  the  laws  of  the  Church 
and  the  improvement  of  morals,  the  education 
of  the  young,  the  peace  and  unity  of  all."  As 
"  the  chief  pastor  endowed  with  the  supreme 
power"  the  Pope  felt  it  his  duty  to  make  the 
summoning  of  the  council  known  to  schismatics 
and  heretics.  So  the  Protestants  also  had  the 
honour  of  being  exhorted  in  a  special  letter 
*'  to  consider  seriously  whether  they  were  on 
the  road  pointed  out  to  us  by  Christ  the 
Lord,    and    to    beg    the    Lord    of     Mercy    to 


244  The  Papacy 


bring  them  back  into   the  bosom  of  the  holy- 
mother." 

"Everything  was  ready,  nothing  was  lacking," 
writes  Perrone  in  his  pamphlet  on  the  definition 
of  infallibility.  And  yet  there  are  many  still 
living  who  remember  what  tremendous  efforts 
were  needed  to  smother  the  fierce  opposition 
that  broke  out  in  the  council,  when  it  became 
evident  after  a  few  weeks  at  what  the  Pope 
and  his  paladins  were  aiming.  It  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  this  opposition  came  from 
the  most  intellectual  of  the  bishops,  and  that 
behind  these  bishops  stood  the  Catholics  of  all 
the  leading  countries  from  the  intellectual  point 
of  view.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  mockingly 
said  of  the  Spaniards  that  they  could  be  talked 
into  believing  that  the  Blessed  Trinity  consisted 
of  four  Persons ;  and  the  hundreds  of  Italians 
were  pledged  to  papalism  from  the  beginning. 
The  fact  that  every  bishop  had  the  right  of 
voting  made  it  unnecessary  to  weigh  the  import- 
ance of  individual  votes.  The  struggle  lasted  for 
months.  The  position  of  the  opposition  became 
critical ;  they  could  no  longer  avoid  seeing  that 
they  were  in  conflict  with  the  personal  wish 
of  the  Pope,  who  now  said  openly  that  he 
regarded  tradition  as  embodied  in  himself. 
We  must  not  overlook  the  highly  creditable 
fact  that  the  bishops  persisted  in  their  opposi- 


Reconstruction  245 

tion  to  the  very  end;  Ketteler's  prostration 
at  the  Pope's  feet  will  always  remain  a  memor- 
able episode.  No  one  who  knows  what  Roman 
Catholicism  is  would  expect  Roman  Catholic 
bishops  to  throw  their  "  non  placet "  in  the  face 
of  the  Holy  Father  in  a  matter  that  concerned 
him  so  nearly.  They  acted  not  only  correctly 
but  from  conviction,  when  they  took  their 
leave  before  the  decisive  sitting. 

On  July  18,  1870,  the  day  before  France 
declared  war  on  Prussia,  Pius  proclaimed  in 
the  Constitution  "Pastor  ^ternus "  ("The 
Eternal  Shepherd")  that  his  doctrinal  decisions 
were  infallible,  and  that  he  himself  was  the 
absolute  master  of  the  Church.  Five  hundred 
and  thirty-five  prelates  assisted  at  the  solemn 
act,  only  two  unknown  bishops  daring  to  vote 
against  it.  The  Constitution  deals  in  four 
chapters  with  the  primacy  of  the  Apostle  Peter, 
then  with  the  continuation  of  the  primacy 
in  the  bishops  of  Rome ;  it  establishes  the 
nature  of  the  Primate's  power  over  the  Church 
as  being  regular  and  direct  without  detracting 
from  episcopal  rights,  and  finally  treats  of 
the  Pope's  authority  on  questions  of  dogma. 
The  crucial  passage  runs  as  follows : — 

"  In  faithful  adherence  to  the  tradition 
received  from  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
faith,  to  the  glory  of  God  our  Saviour,  for  the 


246  The   Papacy 


exaltation  of  the  Catholic  religion,  and  for  the 
salvation  of  the  Christian  peoples,  with  the 
assent  of  the  Sacred  Council,  we  teach  and 
declare  as  a  dogma  revealed  by  God:  that  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  when  he  speaks  "  ex  cathedra" — 
i.e.,  when,  in  the  discharge  of  his  office  as 
pastor  and  teacher  of  all  Christians,  by  virtue 
of  his  supreme  apostolic  authority,  he  defines 
a  doctrine  touching  faith  or  morals  to  be  held 
by  the  Universal  Church — is,  in  virtue  of  the 
divine  assistance  promised  to  him  in  St.  Peter, 
endowed  with  that  infallibility  with  which  the 
divine  Redeemer  willed  that  His  Church  should 
be  provided  in  defining  doctrine  touching  faith 
or  morals ;  and  that  therefore  such  definitions 
of  the  Roman  Pontiff  are  of  themselves,  and 
not  because  of  the  assent  of  the  Church, 
irreversible.  And  if  any  man,  which  God  for- 
bid, should  presume  to  oppose  this  our  defini- 
tion, let  him  be  accursed." 

It  must  be  noted  in  this  definition  that  only 
such  of  the  Pope's  decisions  "ex  cathedra"  are 
to  count  as  infallible  as  have  reference  to  faith 
and  morals,  and  then  only  when  they  apply  to 
the  whole  Church,  with  an  anathema  against 
those  who  disagree.  It  follows  that  the  pro- 
gramme supported  by  the  Jesuits  and  clearly 
enunciated  by  the  Pope  in  the  Encyclical  of 
1864     was     only     partially    carried     out.      The 


Reconstruction  247 

Encyclical  had  termed  opposition  to  papal 
decisions  in  questions  of  law  and  discipline  a 
sin  and  prejudicial  to  the  Catholic  faith,  and 
these  very  questions  had  been  treated  in  great 
detail  in  the  Syllabus.  An  article  in  the 
Civilta  Cattolica  not  long  before  the  meeting 
of  the  council  had  mentioned  as  a  probable 
subject  for  discussion  the  adoption  of  the 
Syllabus  as  an  article  of  faith,  and  this  plan 
had  been  approved  by  the  Curia.  The  failure 
to  carry  out  this  scheme — a  failure  that  has 
not  been  remedied  to  this  day — leaves  a  dis- 
tinct gap  in  the  system  that  was  in  other 
respects  so  brilliantly  successful  at  the  council. 
The  Vatican  Constitution  indeed  quotes  the 
words,  "Feed  My  lambs,  feed  My  sheep,"  and 
deduces  therefrom  the  transmission  of  the 
"  rights  of  the  chief  Pastor  and  Master  over 
the  whole  flock  "  to  St.  Peter  and  his  successors. 
But  the  articles  of  the  Constitution  always 
keep  within  the  limits  of  spiritual  power,  and 
inferences  in  the  sense  of  the  mediaeval  papal 
theories  can  only  be  made  from  them  in  a 
round-about  way  through  Bellarmine's  doctrine 
of  the  indirect  power  of  the  Pope  in  secular 
affairs.  Indirect  inferences,  however,  lend  them- 
selves but  ill  to  dogmatisation.  If  we  consider 
finally  that  a  few  weeks  after  the  definition 
of   the   Pope's   infallibility   and  universal   epis- 


248  The  Papacy  1 

copate  the  Italian  papal  kingship  was  carried  ^ 

to  its  grave,  it  is  not  too  much  to  assert  that  ! 

the   Vatican    decrees   form    the    most   effectual  ' 

barrier  against   the  papal   pretensions  to  tern-  | 

poral  authority.     Yet  "  Feed  My  sheep  "  remains  ■ 
the  watchword. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

THE   FUTURE  IN  THE  LIGHT  OP  THE  PRESENT 

WITH  the  glorification  of  Pius  IX.  in  the 
Vatican  and  the  entrance  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  into  the  Quirinal,  the  history  of  the 
Papacy  comes  to  an  end.  What  follows  belongs 
not  to  the  past  but  to  the  present.  If,  for  this 
reason,  we  cannot  describe  it  historically,  there 
is  nothing  to  prevent  our  considering  it  criti- 
cally. Nay,  this  is  even  necessary,  if  the  axiom 
that  we  study  history  in  order  to  learn  from  it 
is  to  be  respected  in  this  instance.  Nor  shall 
we  be  forbidden  to  cast  an  inquiring  glance 
into  the  future. 

Such  an  examination  shows  us  first  of  all 
the  great  increase  in  power  and  consideration 
gained  by  the  Papacy  since  1870.  It  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  not  till  then  did  the  genera- 
tion which  received  its  education  in  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century  come  to  full  maturity. 

Only  then  did  the  papalistic  views — a  reaction 

249 


250  The  Papacy 

from  the  progressive  and  revolutionary  ideas  of 
the  early  part  of  the  century — which  had  been 
implanted  in  the  mind  of  Roman  Catholic  youth 
as  a  precious  possession  and  had  developed  there, 
come  to  expression.  The  best  proof  of  this 
is  the  way  in  which  the  different  countries 
received  the  Vatican  decrees.  They  met,  indeed, 
with  strong  opposition  that  in  many  cases 
developed  into  insubordination ;  but  even  the 
Old  Catholic  movement  has  kept  within  such 
narrow  limits  that  it  cannot  be  said  to  have 
done  Roman  Catholicism  any  injury  worth 
mentioning. 

In  Germany  especially  there  has  been  such 
a  revival  of  Romanism  as  had  not  been  wit- 
nessed since  the  days  of  the  counter-Reforma- 
tion. To  this  revival  was  due  the  formation 
of  the  "  Centre  "  party  which  once  more  revived 
the  Prusso-German  Church  controversy,  the 
" Kulturkampf "  ("Culture  Struggle"),  as  it  is 
called — a  name  that  does  not  seem  to  describe 
it  at  all  and  yet  expresses  the  whole  point  of 
the  conflict.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  Bis- 
marck was  always  right  in  his  treatment  of 
questions  affecting  the  internal  affairs  of  the 
Church.  But  there  is  no  possible  doubt  that 
every  sentence  of  his  great  fighting  speeches 
bears  witness  to  his  profound  understanding  of 
the  real  aim  of  the  party  inspired  by  papalism, 


The   Future  251 

the  party  which  he  described  in  one  of  his 
striking  expressions  as  a  breaching-battery 
against  the  State.  He  also  showed  a  thorough 
understanding  of  the  Papacy,  when  he  termed 
it  "a  political  power  that  has  interfered  with 
the  greatest  resolution  and  success  in  the  affairs 
of  this  world,  that  aims  at  such  interference 
and  has  made  it  part  of  its  programme."  In 
his  speech  in  the  debate  in  the  Prussian 
Upper  House  on  the  Falk  Laws,  March  10, 
1873,  he  explained  in  a  masterly  fashion 
"the  immemorial  struggle  between  the  royal 
power  and  the  priesthood,"  and  illustrated  it 
by  the  relations  between  Empire  and  Papacy 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  Every  one,  he  then  con- 
tended, who  has  even  a  superficial  insight  into 
history  must  know  from  official  documents 
quoted  and  criticised  times  without  number 
that  this  struggle  must  be  judged  like  any 
other :  "  it  has  its  alliances,  its  treaties,  its 
pauses,  its  truces."  It  will  nevertheless  remain 
a  dark  spot  in  the  history  of  the  new  Empire 
that  its  founder  was  obliged  to  make  use  of 
his  historical  knowledge  by  showing  considera- 
tion for  the  Catholic  party,  whose  support  a 
change  of  domestic  circumstances  had  made 
indispensable.  Even  Bismarck  had  to  make 
peace  with  the  Pope. 

In  his  Canossa  speech  of  May   14,   1872,   the 


252  The  Papacy 


Iron   Chancellor    attributed    the    necessity  for 
maintaining     diplomatic     relations     with     the 
papal     see     to    the    difficult    situation    of    the 
Empire  owing  to  "the  influence,   so  unusually 
wide    for    a    foreign    sovereign,"    which    "  the 
Head    of    the     Catholic     Church    exercised    in 
Germany."     The   behaviour    of    Pius    IX.,   who 
disregarded     the     most     elementary    principles 
of  statesmanlike   courtesy,   was  not  calculated 
to   make   these    relations   easier ;    nor  was   his 
refusal    to    accept    Count    von     Hohenlohe    as 
Prussian    Ambassador    at    the    Curia,    nor   his 
arrogant    letter    of    August    7,     1873,     to     the 
Emperor  William,  in  which  he  made  the  bold 
assertion   that   all    baptized    persons    belonged 
in  some   measure   to  the   Pope,   or  finally   the 
interference  with  the  laws  of  the  State,  based 
on  his   apostolic  office   of   Chief  Pastor,  which 
he    permitted   himself    when    he   declared    the 
Prussian  "Kampf"  laws   invalid   in   the   Ency- 
clical   "Quod    nunquam"    ("What    never")    of 
February    5,    1875.     Only    after    the    death    of 
Pius  on  February  7,  1878 — the  first  Pope  who 
reigned  for  more  than  the  traditional  twenty- 
five  years  of  St.  Peter — was  there  a  possibility 
of  new  developments. 

Leo  XIII.  (Gioacchino  Vincenzo  Count  Pecci, 
born  March  2,  1810,  at  Carpineto,  near  Anagni) 
was   elected   Pope   on   February  20,    1878.     He 


The  Future  253 

had  not  been  one  of  his  predecessor's  favourites, 
and  it  was  not  till  1876,  after  the  death  of 
Antonelli,  who  had  been  his  enemy  from  the 
beginning,  that  the  Cardinal  was  called  to 
Rome  from  the  little  see  of  Perugia.  Pecci 
had  been  one  of  the  first  pupils  of  the  Collegium 
Romanum  in  its  new  Jesuit  period  and  had 
followed  the  advice  of  Father  Roothaan  in 
forming  his  little  library.  He  was  a  great 
reader :  Thomas  Aquinas  rejoiced  his  heart 
and  soon  also  Pope  Benedict  XIV.,  from  reading 
whose  works  he  first  got  the  idea  that  it 
was  impossible  to  overcome  the  modern  world 
without  entering  into  its  thoughts.  His  ideal 
of  ecclesiastical  policy  he  found  in  Leo  XII., 
whose  name  he  had  taken.  He  learned  to 
adapt  himself  to  circumstances  :  when  Perugia 
became  incorporated  in  the  kingdom  of  Italy, 
Pecci  succeeded  in  keeping  on  good  terms 
with  the  new  Government.  His  election  to 
the  Papacy  proved  the  best  that  could  be 
imagined.  He  was  granted  a  quarter  of  a 
century  in  which  to  make  brilliant  use,  as  Head 
of  the  Church,  of  his  unusual  diplomatic  ability, 
his  remarkable  skiU  in  administration,  and  his 
width  of  outlook. 

The  numerous  Encyclicals,  in  which  the  Pope 
gave  his  directions  to  the  Catholic  world,  bear 
witness    to     the    universality    with    which    he 


254 


The  Papacy 


handled  and  discussed  every  subject  in  any  way 
connected  with  his  apostolic  office : — 


The  Dangers  of  Socialism, 
The  Labour  Question, 
and  Christian  Democracy. 


"  Quod  apostolici,"  December 
28,  1878. 

"  Rerum  novarum,"  May  15, 
1891. 

"  Graves  de  communi,"  Janu- 
ary 18,  1901. 


The  Source  of  Civil  Authority, 

The  Christian  State, 

Freedom  and  Law, 
and  The  Duties  of  Christian 
Citizens. 


"  Diuturnum  illud,"  June  29, 

1881. 
"  Immortale  Dei,"  November 

1,  1885. 
"  Libertas,"  June  20,  1888. 
"  Sapientiae  Christianas," 

January  10,  1890. 


The  Revival  of  Learning, 
The  Study  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  Religious  Education. 


"  .^terni    Patris,"   August  4, 

1879. 
"  Providentissimus        Deus," 

November  18,  1893. 
"  MiUtantis  ecclesiae,"  August 

1,  1897. 


The  Divine  Redeemer, 

The  Holy  Ghost, 
and    The    Sacrament   of    the 
Altar. 


"  Tametsi  futura,"  November 

1,  1900. 
"  Divinum  illud,"  May  9, 1897' 
"  Mirse    caritatis,"     May    28, 

1902. 


Missions, 

and    The    Missionaries    Cyril 
and  Methodius. 


"  Sancta   Dei,"  December  8, 

1880. 
"  Grande  munus,"  September 

30,  1880. 


The  Future  255 

The  Church  as  the  Mother  of     "  Inscrutabili  Dei,"  AprQ  21, 

Civilisation,  1878. 

The  Unity  of  the  Church,  "  Satis   cognitum,"    June  29, 

1896, 
and  Community  of  Faith.  "Praeclara  gratulationis," 

June  20,  1894. 


Christian  Marriage  "Arcanum    illud,"    February 

10,  1880. 
and  Christian  Life.  "  Exeunte     jam,"    December 

25,  1888. 


In  addition  to  these,  there  were  his  utterances 
on  the  cult  of  the  Virgin,  the  Rosary,  the 
Sacred  Heart,  and  other  matters  connected 
with  Catholic  worship  and  societies,  and,  finally, 
numerous  letters  to  the  bishops  and  the 
faithful  of  the  various  countries.  All  these 
subjects  are  treated  with  wonderful  sureness  of 
touch,  and  such  felicity  of  expression  that  the 
writings  are  a  pleasure  to  read.  It  is  true 
that,  even  with  a  magnifying  glass,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  find  any  novelty  of  thought. 
But  who  would  think  of  looking  for  that  in 
the  public  utterances  of  a  man  who  made  it 
his  boast  that  he  carried  on  the  oldest  of  tra- 
ditions ?  If  any  one  imagines  that  Leo  could 
have  differed  from  his  predecessors'  views  on 
any  essential  point,  he  has  read  the  history  of 
the  Papacy  to  no  purpose. 

Something   there    is,    certainly,    in    the    oft- 


256  The  Papacy 

repeated  title  of  "  the  Pope  of  peace."  Leo 
was  much  more  careful  than  his  predecessors 
— in  this  he  resembled  Consalvi — to  take  un- 
favourable circumstances  into  consideration, 
to  eliminate  the  impossible  from  his  plans, 
and  by  careful  calculation  to  attain  the  possible. 
He  announced  his  programme  in  a  letter  to 
Nina,  his  Secretary  of  State,  who  in  August, 
1878,  took  the  place  of  the  prematurely 
deceased  Franchi :  it  was  a  question  of  making 
a  place  for  the  Church  and  the  Pope  in  the 
midst  of  modern  society,  of  destroying  preju- 
dices against  the  Church  and  silencing  the 
accusations  against  her.  Such  a  programme 
implied  no  small  amount  of  self-denial  and 
much  adaptability  to  circumstances.  Leo 
proved  that  he  had  these  qualities  in  a  high 
degree.  Sweet  words  flowed  like  honey  from 
his  lips.  His  masterpiece  was  the  Encyclical 
"  Prseclara  gratulationis "  of  June  20,  1894, 
in  which  he  offered  "  greeting  and  peace  in 
the  Lord  to  all  rulers  and  nations  of  the  earth," 
in  the  fulness  of  his  gratitude  for  the  demonstra- 
tions and  good  wishes  recently  showered  upon 
him  on  the  occasion  of  his  sacerdotal  jubilee. 
As  "  Vicar  of  the  Almighty  here  on  earth " 
the  Pope  pours  out  the  same  love  on  all  and 
has  but  one  wish — that  the  time  may  not  be 
far   distant   when   the   words   of  Jesus   in   His 


The   Future  257 

high-priestly  prayer  will  be  fulfilled :  "  I  pray 
that  they  all  may  be  one;  as  Thou,  Father, 
art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they  also  may 
be  one  in  Us,"  and  when  the  promise  will 
come  true  that  "  there  shall  be  one  fold  and 
one  shepherd."  In  a  truly  paternal  manner  he 
exercises  even  now  this  office  of  pastor.  His 
pen  is  "  dipped  in  goodwill,  love,  and  yearning." 
Are  not  the  Protestants,  like  the  Eastern 
Catholics,  but  erring  sheep  ?  To  these  words 
of  peace  the  Greek  Patriarch  turned  a  deaf 
ear,  and  harshly  accused  the  Roman  Church  of 
arrogance,  because  she  persisted  in  her  innova- 
tions and  stood  in  the  way  of  the  reunion  of 
the  Churches.  Moreover  the  Protestants  were 
not  likely  to  forget  that  the  same  Pope  in 
the  Encyclical  "  Sancta  Dei "  (December  3, 
1880)  had  termed  the  Evangelical  missionaries 
"  messengers  of  the  Prince  of  Darkness." 

It  was  Leo's  endeavour  to  convince  the 
different  Governments  of  the  necessity  of  joint 
action  on  the  part  of  Church  and  State,  and 
he  continually  impressed  on  the  peoples  the 
necessity  of  obedience  to  the  powers  ordained 
of  God,  especially  in  the  Encyclical  "  Diuturnum 
illud"  (June  29,  1881),  in  which  he  set  forth 
with  dazzling  sophistry  the  divine  origin  of 
the  State.  A  careful  reader  will  not  be  de- 
ceived by  it :  every  line  breathes  the  conviction 

17 


258  The  Papacy 

that  the  Church  is  supreme  over  the  State, 
in  accordance  with  the  oft-misused  principle 
that  "  we  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than 
men."  How  far  Leo  extended  the  limits  of 
obedience  to  the  Church,  especially  to  the 
Holy  See,  is  seen  clearly  enough  in  the 
Encyclical  *'  Sapientiae  Christianae "  (January 
10,  1890),  which  treats  of  the  duties  of  Christian 
citizens.  At  the  same  time  it  is  indisputable 
that  the  Pope  was  in  earnest  in  his  efforts 
to  reassure  the  States  as  to  the  encroachments 
of  the  Church. 

As  regards  Italy  his  position  was  peculiarly 
difficult.  It  was  out  of  the  question  for  a 
Pope  who  had  grown  up  under  Leo  XII.  and 
Gregory  XVI.,  and  had  passed  the  best  years 
of  his  manhood  under  Pius  IX.,  to  accept  the 
new  position  of  the  Papacy  created  by  the 
monarchy,  and  especially  by  the  Law  of 
Guarantees.  Granted  his  point  of  view,  it  is 
worthy  of  all  honour  that  Leo  thought  of 
forming  an  Italian  Confederation,  on  Gioberti's 
plan,  which  he  himself  would  have  joined  as 
the  sovereign  of  Rome  and  Central  Italy. 
Finding  no  support  for  this  scheme  either  in 
Italy  or  abroad,  he  had  to  content  himself  with 
preparing  for  some  future  change  in  opinion  by 
strengthening  the  organisation  of  the  clergy  and 
continuing  to  work  upon  the  mind  of  the  laity. 


The  Future  259 

After  Italy,  Germany  at  first  claimed  his 
special  attention.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  sound, 
it  is  none  the  less  true  that  Leo  genuinely 
admired  the  German  Empire  and  its  great 
statesman,  for  the  good  reason  that  there, 
under  Protestant  auspices,  something  was 
being  achieved,  politically  and  socially,  from 
which  even  a  Pope  might  learn,  and  from 
which  Leo  actually  did  learn.  The  good 
wishes  for  Germany's  power  and  greatness 
that  he  expressed  so  warmly  and  so  eloquently 
in  his  letter  to  Bismarck  of  1885,  in  which 
he  thanked  him  for  giving  him  the  office 
of  arbitrator  in  the  Caroline  Islands  question, 
and  which  he  followed  up  by  conferring  the 
Order  of  Christ  on  the  heretical  Chancellor, 
sprang  from  honest  conviction.  The  adjust- 
ment of  the  dispute  on  Church  politics  was 
also  really  due  to  him,  and  it  cannot  be  said 
of  the  peace  concluded  in  1887,  that  it 
endangered  the  interests  of  the  Empire.  Per- 
sonal goodwill  also  inspired  the  exhortation 
to  the  German  Catholics  to  maintain  a 
friendly  attitude  towards  the  Government  on 
the  Septennate  question  (January  21,  1887). 
This  the  "  Centre "  party  regarded  as  an 
encroachment  of  the  Pope's,  while  Leo  tried 
to  justify  his  interference  by  the  bold 
argument   that   moral  and  religious  considera- 


26o  The  Papacy 

tions  were  bound  up  with  the  matter  in 
question. 

The  limits  set  to  the  papal  power  by  the 
Vatican  decree  were  a  hindrance  in  dealing 
with  the  French  Catholics  also.  From  the 
beginning,  Leo  had  thought  to  gain  the  con- 
fidence of  the  Government  by  unreservedly 
acknowledging  the  Republic  as  the  divinely 
ordained  form  of  government  for  present-day 
France,  and  the  maintenance  of  this  confidence 
became  the  capital  point  of  his  policy  when 
the  rapprochement  of  Italy  and  Germany  in 
the  Triple  Alliance  of  1883  barred  his  way  to 
success.  But  he  had  no  luck :  the  earnest 
Catholics,  headed  by  the  clergy,  refused  to 
take  the  field  for  the  Republic  and  remained 
refractory,  although  Leo  and  the  faithful 
Lavigerie  continued  their  conciliatory  efforts 
undismayed.  An  even  severer  blow  came  to 
the  Pope  from  the  superstition  of  these 
Catholics — a  superstition  which  he  certainly 
shared — when  Leo  Taxil  audaciously  made  the 
term  "synagogue  of  Satan,"  which  the  Pope 
had  applied  to  the  Freemasons,  the  theme 
of  a  clever  literary  hoax,  reviving  all  the 
devilment  of  bygone  times,  and  thoroughly 
befooling  Pope  and  Church  for  more  than  a 
decade. 

It  was    also   not   without  anxiety   that    Leo 


The  Future  261 

followed  the  mighty  growth  or  Catholicism  in 
North  America.  He  was  not  unaware  that 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  so 
absolutely  unlike  that  of  any  European  coun- 
try, put  the  separation  of  Church  and  State 
on  quite  a  different  footing  from  that  to 
which  he  was  accustomed,  and  he  was  there- 
fore ready  to  listen  to  the  suggestions  of  the 
bishops.  But  the  danger  of  a  withdrawal  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  America  from  the 
centre  in  Rome  appeared  to  him  greater 
than  the  advantages  to  be  expected  from 
independence  of  government,  and  an  eager 
interest  in  modern  ideas,  and  he  therefore 
condemned  the  so-called  Americanism  (Janu- 
ary 22,  1899). 

The  attitude  of  Leo  to  the  American  question 
showed  with  special  clearness  that  even  so 
sagacious  and  far-seeing  a  Pope  as  he,  was 
unable  to  adapt  himself  to  the  requirements 
of  a  new  age.  But  the  same  was  true  on  all 
sides.  In  spite  of  his  honest  attempts,  the  Pope 
could  not  free  himself  of  the  old  idea  that  the 
Church  must  keep  men  in  leading-strings  ;  the 
best  proof  of  this  is  his  Encyclical  on  the  Labour 
Question  ("Rerum  novarum,"  May  15,  1891) 
Men  of  learning  cherish  his  memory  because 
he  "opened  the  treasures  of  his  archives  with 
a    liberality     that    has    seldom    been    equalled 


262  The  Papacy 

and  never  surpassed,  wisely  recognising  that 
nothing  can  serve  the  Church  so  well  as  the 
whole  truth."  But  in  his  Encyclical  on  the 
philosophy  of  St.  Thomas  ("^Eterni  Patris," 
August  4,  1878),  Leo  commanded  that  "the 
golden  wisdom"  of  Aquinas  "should  again  be 
taught  and  spread  as  widely  as  possible,  for 
the  defence  and  adornment  of  Catholic  doctrine, 
for  the  good  of  society,  and  for  the  growth  of 
all  the  sciences."  All  his  writhigs  exhale  the 
atmosphere  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  it  was  only  in 
that  air  that  the  Pope  could  breathe  freely, 
the  climate  of  modern  times  was  too  bracing 
for  him. 

The  peculiar  fascination  of  the  aged  Pope's  per- 
sonality might  well  give  rise  to  an  exaggerated 
estimate  of  his  historical  importance.  Hundreds 
of  thousands  of  men,  religious  and  irreligious, 
believers  and  unbelievers,  have  carried  away 
ineffaceable  impressions  of  his  kindly  eyes  and 
his  winning  smile  from  the  time  of  his  Jubilees 
which,  as  so  often  happens  with  old  men, 
acted  on  him  like  an  elixir.  The  sight  of  this 
delicate  white-robed  form  being  borne  through 
a  crowd  hoarse  with  cheering  or  bowed  in 
prayer,  might  well  call  to  the  mind  of  some 
who  "languished  in  error  far  from  the  Bride 
of  Christ,"  or  who  were  even  "  tainted  with 
the  pestilential  miasma  of  unbelief,"  the  words : 


The  Future  263 

"  My  sheep  hear  My  voice "  ;  or  these  again  : 
"  Other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this 
fold :  them  also  I  must  bring  and  they  shall 
hear  My  voice ;  and  there  shall  be  one  fold 
and  one  shepherd."  We  must  read  Leo's 
most  comprehensive  Encyclical,  the  great  dis- 
sertation on  the  unity  of  the  Church  ("  Satis 
cognitum,"  June  29,  1896),  quietly  to  ourselves, 
if  we  would  realise  the  full  meaning  that  these 
words  of  Christ  in  St.  John's  Gospel  had  for 
him,  who  believed  himself  to  be  the  divinely 
ordained  Vicar  of  Christ  and  the  successor  of 
His  chief  apostle. 

At  the  present  time  much  is  being  said  and 
written  about  the  future  of  the  Papacy.  The 
contradiction  between  the  idea  and  its  realisa- 
tion in  the  world,  is  too  evident  for  some 
attempt  not  to  be  made  at  adjustment.  A 
distinction  is  often  drawn  between  the  spiritual, 
the  political,  and  the  royal  Papacy ;  the  royal 
Papacy,  it  is  said,  has  disappeared,  the  political 
Papacy  is  doomed  to  decay,  and  only  of  the 
spiritual  Papacy  is  it  prophesied  that  it  will 
continue.  Yet  we  may  ask  whether  this  dis- 
tinction does  not  divide  what  is  really  in- 
divisible, and  whether  the  Pope  has  not  a 
three-fold  office  like  the  Christ  of  Protestant 
dogma.  That  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope 
is  at   an  end,  is   admitted   even   by  thoughtful 


264  The  Papacy 

Catholics.  But  it  does  not  necessarily  follow 
that  an  end  has  come  to  that  idea  of  the  papal 
kingdom  to  which  the  temporal  power  was  but 
an  appendage,  developed  in  the  course  of  its 
history.  For  the  Papacy,  religion  and  politics 
are  indissolubly  united.  That  Pius  the  Good 
has  succeeded  Leo  the  Wise  is  no  proof  to  the 
contrary.  The  spirits  of  the  great  Popes  still 
walk  the  world  to-day,  and  they  will  continue 
to  walk  as  long  as  there  is  a  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Of  this  Church,  in  continuation  of  the 
passage  we  quoted  in  the  introduction,  Macaulay 
wrote : — 

"She  saw  the  commencement  of  all  the 
governments  and  of  all  the  ecclesiastical  estab- 
lishments that  now  exist  in  the  world ;  and 
we  feel  no  assurance  that  she  is  not  destined 
to  see  the  end  of  them  all.  She  was  great  and 
res[>ected  before  the  Saxon  had  set  foot  on 
Britain,  before  the  Frank  had  passed  the  Rhino, 
when  Grecian  eloquence  still  flourished  in 
Antioch,  when  idols  were  still  worshipped  in 
the  temple  of  Mecca.  And  she  may  still  exist 
in  undiminished  vigour  when  some  traveller 
from  New  Zealand  shall,  in  the  midst  of  a 
vast  solitude,  take  his  stand  on  a  broken  arch 
of  London  Bridge  to  sketch  the  ruins  of  St. 
Paul's." 

This  prophecy  of  the  unending  future  of  the 


The  Future  265 

Church  and  of  the  Papacy — so  inseparably 
bound  up  with  her  destiny — is  remarkable  for 
more  than  mere  brilliancy  of  language.  Its 
explanation  is  to  be  found  in  the  imperative 
craving  of  the  human  soul  to  see  and  grasp 
amid  the  flux  of  history  one  thing  at  least, 
that  is  firm,  enduring,  eternal.  Therein  lies  its 
significance,  since  history  is  the  outcome  of 
human  souls  and  their  needs.  And  yet,  at 
the  same  time,  the  idea  is  only  a  result  of 
our  human  point  of  view.  Macaulay  and  all 
those  who  judge  as  he  does,  whether  influenced 
by  religious  or  merely  by  romantic  feelings, 
take  in  their  short-sighted  view  the  strongest 
thing  yet  known  to  mankind  for  something 
eternal.  But  even  in  the  period  of  history 
which  we  know,  what  are  two  thousand  years  ? 
Once  more  we  look  back  into  the  past.  We 
have  watched  the  Church  come  into  being  and 
with  her  the  Papacy.  There  was  a  time  when 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  existed.  That 
was  the  time  when  Jesus  walked  in  Galilee 
with  His  disciples,  and  Peter  answered  in  the 
name  of  all :  "  Thou  art  the  Christ  of  God"  (St. 
Luke  ix.  20).  Jesus  did  not  then  think  of  either 
Church  or  Papacy,  but  rather  that  the  Son  of 
Man  must  suffer  many  things.  He  told  his 
disciples  a  parable  concerning  all  those  who 
count    upon    abiding    existence    and    a    never- 


266  The  Papacy 

failing  future  in  this  world — the  parable  of 
the  rich  man.  The  ground  had  brought  forth 
plentifully,  and  he  pulled  down  his  barns  and 
built  greater,  and  said  to  his  soul :  "  Soul,  thou 
hast  much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years ; 
take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink  and  be  merry. 
But  God  said  unto  him.  Thou  fool,  this  night 
thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee :  then  whose 
shall  those  things  be  which  thou  hast  pro- 
vided ? "  This  is  a  prophecy  which  is  eternally 
and  universally  true.  It  will  be  fulfilled  even 
in  the  Papacy. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

THERE  is  no  comprehensive  modern  history  of  the  Papacy. 
The  last  attempt  at  one  in  four  volumes  by  the  Old  Catholic 
Josef  Langen — OescJdchfe  cler  romischen  Kirche  (Bonn, 
1881-1893) — only  goes  as  far  as  Innocent  III.  General  sur- 
veys are  given  in  ;  W.  Wattenbach,  GescJdchte  des  romischen 
Papsttums,  VoHrdge  (2nd  impression,  Berlin,  1876) ;  Ign.  v. 
Dollinger,  Das  Papsttum  (a  revised  version  of  Janus,  Der 
Papst  itnd  das  Konzil),  edited,  after  the  author's  death,  by 
J.  Friedrich  (Munich,  1892) ;  E.  Schwemer,  Papsttum  iind. 
Kaisertum  (Stuttgart,  1899).  Detailed  accounts  of  certain 
periods  are  to  be  found  in :  Leop.  v.  Eanke,  Die  romischen 
Papste  in  den  letzten  vier  Jahrhunderten  ■•'  (10th  edition, 
Leipzig,  1900,  3  vols.) ;  Ludw.  Pastor,  Geschichte  der  Papste 
seit  dem  Ausgang  des  Mittelalters  f  (Freiburg,  1899-1906, 
4  vols,  at  present  published,  going  up  to  Leo  X.) ;  Fr.  Nielsen, 
Geschichte  des  Papsttwms  im  19.  Jahrhundert  |  (trans,  from  the 
Danish,  2nd  edition,  Gotha,  1880,  2  parts) ;  A,  J.  Niirnberger, 
ZurKirchengeschichte  des  19.  Jahrhicnderts  (Mainz,  1897-1900, 
3  vols,).  The  connection  of  the  Papacy  with  the  city  of  Rome 
is  especially  considered  in  F.  Gregorovius,  Geschichte  der 
Stadt  Bom    im   Mittelalter  §    (5th    edition,   Stuttgart,    1903, 


•-  The  History  of  the  Popes  during  tJie  last  Four  Centuries, 
English  translation  by  Mrs.  Foster,  revised  by  G.  R.  Dennis 
(London,  1908,  3  vols.). 

f  The  History  of  the  Popes  from  the  Close  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  English  translation  edited  by  F.  I.  Antrobus  and 
R.  F.  Kerr  (London,  1891,  &c. ;  7  vols,  now  published). 

X  The  History  of  the  Papacy  in  the  Nineteenth  Century. 
Translated  mto  English  under  the  direction  of  A.  J.  Mason 
(London,  1906,  2  vols.). 

§  History  of  the  City  of  Rome  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Trans- 
lated into  English  from  the  fourth  German  edition  by  Mrs. 
G.  W.  Hamilton  (2nd  edition,  London,  1900,  &c.    In  progress).] 

267 


268  Bibliography 


8  vols.) ;  Alf.  von  Eeumont,  Oeschichte  der  Stadt  Bom 
(Berlin,  1867,  &c.,  3  vols.) ;  Hartmann  Grisar,  Geschichte  Boms 
und  der  Pdpste  ini  Mittelalter  (Freiburg,  1898  ff,  1  vol.  at 
present  issued).  A  history  of  the  Papal  States  has  been 
written  by  M.  Brosch  (Gotha,  1880-1882,  2  vols.).  From  a 
polemical  point  of  view,  Das  Papsttum  in  seiner  sozial- 
Jdtltnrellen  WirJcsamlieit  (4th  edition,  Leipzig,  1902,  2  vols.), 
by  Paul  Count  von  Hoensbroech,  is  important.  Two  other 
German  works  may  also  be  mentioned :  Albert  Hauck, 
Kirchengeschichte  Deutschlands  (Leipzig.  4  vols,  at  present 
issued :  vol.  i.,  4th  edition,  1904 ;  vol.  ii.,  2nd  edition,  1900  ; 
vol.  iii.,  3rd  and  4th  editions,  1906;  vol.  iv.,  1903);  Johannes 
Haller,  Papsttum  und  Kirchenreform  (Berlin,  1903).  The  subject 
is  treated  in  an  original  manner  by  Baldassare  Labanca,  II 
pxcpato.  Sua  origine,  sue  lotte  e  vicende,  suo  avenire  (Turin, 
1905 ;  the  last  part  has  been  translated  into  German  by 
M.  Sell,  Tubingen,  1906,  under  the  title  of  Die  Zuliunft  des 
Papsttums).  A  selection  of  the  most  important  papal  monu- 
ments in  the  original  has  been  brought  out  by  Mirbt,  Quellen 
i^ur  Geschichte  des  Papsttums  und  des  romischen  Katho- 
lizlsmus  (2nd  edition,  Tubingen,  1901),  and  a  Statistik  der 
Pdpste  by  Prince  Z.  V.  Lobkovitz  (Freiburg,  1905). 

[To  these  may  be  added  the  following  well-known  English 
works :  H.  H.  Milman,  History  of  Latin  Christianity, 
including  that  of  the  Popes  to  the  Pontificate  of  Nicholas 
V.  (9  vols.) ;  J.  Bryce,  The  Holy  Boman  Empire ; 
M.  Creighton,  A  History  of  the  Papacy  from  the  Great 
Schism  to  the  Sack  of  Borne  {137S-1527)  (6  vols.) ;  W. 
Barry,  The  Papal  Monarchy  from  St.  Gregory  the  Great  to 
Boniface  VIII.  {590-1303);  Cardinal  Wiseman,  Becollections 
of  Four  Pope8{PiusVII.,  Leo  XII.,  Pius  VIII.,  Gregory  XVI.), 
and  of  Borne  in  their  Times;  also  the  Gamhridge  Modern 
History,  especially  the  volumes  on  The  Benaissance,  The 
Beformation,  The  Wars  of  Beligion,  The  Thirty  Years  War, 
The  Age  of  Louis  XIV.,  Napoleon,  The  Bestoration,  and  The 
Growth  of  Nationalities. — Translators.] 


LIST   OF  THE   ROMAN   PONTIFFS. 

(As  in  the  Registers  of  the  Roman  Church.) 
ST.   PETER,   PRINCE  OF  THE  APOSTLES,  41-65-67. 


Linus. 

A.D.  67 

Anastasius  I.  A.D 

•398 

Vitalian.        A.D 

.657 

Cletus. 

79 

Innocent  I. 

402 

Deusdedit  II. 

672 

Clement  L 

91 

Zosimus. 

417 

Donus  I. 

676 

Evaristus. 

100 

Boniface  I. 

418 

Agatho. 

678 

Alexander  L 

109 

Coelestine  I. 

422 

Leo  II. 

682 

Sixtiis  L 

119 

Sixtus  III. 

432 

Benedict  II. 

684 

Telesphorus. 

128 

Leo  I.  (the  Gt.) 

440 

John  V. 

68s 

Hyginus. 

138 

Hilary. 

461 

Conon. 

686 

Pius  L 

142 

Simplicius. 

468 

Sergius  I. 

687 

Anicetus. 

157 

Felix  III. 

483 

John  VI. 

701 

Soter. 

168 

Gelasius  I. 

492 

John  VIL 

705 

Eleutherius. 

177 

Anastasius  1 1. 

496 

Sisinnius. 

708 

Victor  L 

190 

Symmachus. 

498 

Constantine  I. 

708 

Zephyrinus. 

202 

liormisdas. 

514 

Gregory  II. 

715 

Callistus  L 

218 

John  I. 

523 

Gregory  III. 

731 

Urban  L 

222 

Felix  IV. 

526 

Zachary. 

741 

Pontian. 

230 

Boniface  II. 

530 

Stephen  Ill.f 

752 

Anterus. 

235 

John  II. 

532 

Paul  I. 

757 

Fabian. 

236 

Agapitus. 

535 

Constantine  II. 

767 

Cornelius. 

251 

Silverius. 

536 

Stephen  IV. 

768 

Lucius  L 

253 

Vigilius. 

537 

Hadrian  I. 

771 

Stephen  L 

254 

Pelagius  I. 

555 

Leo  III. 

795 

Sixtus  IL 

257 

John  III. 

560 

Stephen  V. 

816 

Dionysius. 

259 

Benedict  I. 

574 

Paschal  I. 

817 

Felix  L 

269 

Pelagius  II. 

578 

Eugene  II. 

824 

Eutychian. 

275 

Gregory   I.    (the 

Valentine. 

827 

Caius. 

283 

Great). 

590 

Gregory  IV. 

827 

IMarcellinus. 

296 

Sabinian. 

604 

Sergius  II. 

844 

Marcellus  L 

307 

Boniface  III. 

607 

Leo  IV. 

847 

Eusebius 

309 

Boniface  IV. 

608 

Benedict  III. 

Ss? 

Melchiacks. 

310 

Devisdedit  I. 

615 

Nicholas  I.  (the  858 

Silvester  L 

314 

Boniface  V. 

619 

Hadrian  II.  [Gt.)  867 

Mark. 

336 

Ilonorius  I. 

625 

John  VIII. 

872 

Julius  L 

337 

Severinus. 

640 

Marinus  I. 

882 

Liberius. 

352 

John  IV. 

640 

Hadrian  III. 

884 

Felix  IL* 

355 

Theodore  I. 

642 

Stephen  VI. 

885 

Damasus  I. 

366 

Martin  I. 

649 

Formosus. 

891 

Siricius. 

384 

Eugene  I. 

655 

Boniface  VI. 

896 

*  Pope  during  exile  of  Liberius.  +  Steph.  II.  (752)  died  before  coniecr. 


269 


LIST  OF  THE  ROMAN  PONTIFFS 


Stephen  VII.  A. 

D.896 

Coelestinell.A.D.i 

143 

Nicholas  V.  a.d.  m 

Romanus. 

897 

Lucius  II.            1 

144 

Callistus  III.        I^ 

Theodore  II. 

897 

Eugene  III.         ] 

145 

Pius  II.                 1/ 

John  IX. 

898 

Anastasius  IV.     1 

153 

Paul  II.                i^ 

Benedict  IV. 

900 

Hadrian  IV.        1 

154 

Sixtus  IV.            u 

LeoV. 

903 

Alexander  III.     ] 

159 

Innocent  VIII.    i^ 

Christopher. 

903 

Lucius  III.          1 

181 

Alexander  VI.     it 

Sergius  III. 

904 

Urban  III.           ] 

185 

Pius  III.                  I 

Anastasius  III. 

911 

Gregory  VIII.     l 

187 

Julius  II.              I 

Lando. 

913 

Clement  III. 

187 

Leo  X.                 I 

John  X. 

914 

Coelestine  III. 

191 

Hadrian  VI.         i 

Leo  VI. 

928 

Innocent  III. 

[198 

Clement  VII.       i 

Stephen  VIII. 

929 

Honorius  III. 

[2X6 

Paul  III.              I 

John  XI. 

931 

Gregory  IX. 

1227 

Julius  III.               I 

Leo  VII. 

936 

Coelestine  IV. 

[241 

Marcellus  II.       I 

Stephen  IX. 

939 

Innocent  IV. 

'243 

Paul  IV.               1 

Marinus  II.* 

943 

Alexander  IV. 

t2S4 

Pius  IV.               I 

Agapitus  II. 

946 

Urban  IV. 

[261 

Pius  V.                I 

John  XII. 

955 

Clement  IV. 

265 

Gregory  XIII.     I 

Leo  VIII. 

963 

Gregory  X. 

271 

Sixtus  V.               I 

Benedict  V. 

964 

Innocent  V. 

276 

Urban  VII.         I 

John  XIII. 

965 

Hadrian  V. 

[276 

Gregory  XIV.      i 

Benedict  VI. 

973 

JohnXX.(XXL) 

[276 

Innocent  IX.        i 

Benedict  VII. 

974 

Nicholas  III. 

[277 

Clement  VIII.     i 

John  XIV. 

983 

Martin  IV.* 

1281 

Leo  XI.                I 

John  XV. 

985 

Honorius  IV. 

[285 

PaulV.             ,    I 

Gregory  V. 

996 

Nicholas  IV. 

[288 

Gregory  XV.    '   i 

Silvester  II. 

999 

Coelestine  V. 

[294 

Urban  VIII.        i 

John  XVII.t 

1003 

Boniface  VIII.fr 

1294 

Innocent  X.         i 

JohnXVIIJ. 

1003 

Benedict  XI. 

1303 

Alexander  VII.   i 

Sergius  IV. 

1009 

Clement  V. 

'305 

Clement  IX.        i 

Benedict  VIII. 

1012 

John  XXII. 

[316 

Clement  X.          i 

John  XIX. 

1024 

Benedict  XII. 

'334 

Innocent  XI.       i 

Benedict  IX. 

1033 

Clement  VI. 

'342 

Alexander  VIII.  i 

Gregory  VI. 

1045 

Innocent  VI. 

[352 

Innocent  XII.     1 

Clement  II. 

1046 

Urban  V. 

[362 

Clement  XI.        i 

Damasus  II. 

1048 

Gregory  XI. 

f37o 

Innocent  XIII.    i 

Leo  IX. 

1049 

Urban  VI. 

378 

Benedict  XIII.    i 

Victor  II. 

1055 

Clement  VII. 

Clement  XII.      I 

Stephen  X. 

1057 

(Avignon). 

[378 

Benedict  XIV.    i 

Nicholas  11. \ 

1059 

Benedict  XIII. 

Clement  XIII.     1 

Alexander  II. 

1061 

(Avignon). 

1394 

Clement  XIV.     i 

Gregory  VII. 

1073 

Boniface  IX. 

'389 

Pius  VI.                I 

Victor  III. 

1086 

Innocent  VII. 

[404 

Pius  VII.             I 

Urban  II. 

10S8 

Ciregory  XII. 

[406 

Leo  XII.              I 

Paschal  II. 

1099 

Alexander  V. 

[409 

Pius  VIII.            I 

Gelasius  II. 

1118 

John  XXIIL 

410 

Gregory  XVI.      i 

Callistus  II. 

1119 

Martin  V. 

417 

Pius  IX.               I 

HonoriusII. 

1124 

Eugene  IV. 

[431 

Leo  XIII.           I 

Innocent  II. 

1130 

Pius  X.                I 

*  Marinus  I.,  II 

,  were  also  called  (Martinus) 

Mart 

nil.,  III. 

t  John  XVI.  (007)  Antipope.                     t  Be 

nedic 

k  X.  (1058),  Antipope. 

H  Boniface  VII 

(974),  / 

Inlipopc. 

INDEX 


Abelard,  103 

Acceptation  of  Mayence,  139 
Adalbert,  Archbishop,  77 
Advocate  of  Peace  (see  Defen- 
sor Pacts) 
Aeterni  Patris  Unigenitus,  243 
d'Ailly,  Pierre,  130 
Aistulf,  51 
Aleander,  168 
Albert  II.,  148 
Albertus  Magnus,  118 
Alexander   II.,  76-7 
III.,  106-8 
IV.,  121 
v.,  133 

VI.,  153-4,  205 
,,         of  Hales,  118 
,,         Jerome,  165 
Alfonso  I.  of  Portugal,  108 
America,  Catholicism  in  North, 

260-1 
Anacletus,  103 
Anfossi,  227 
Angelo,  Michael,  146 
Anicetus,  19 

Antonelli,  Giacomo,  239,  253 
Aquinas,  Thomas,  118-9,  125 
Aquavava,  Claudio,  194 


Armada,  Spanish,  188 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  104-5 
Art  in  Rome,  144-7 
Augsburg,  Diet  of,  166,  173-4 
Augustine,  Bishop  of  Hippo,  43 
Augustinus  Bedioivtis,  204 
Aurelian,  Emperor,  26 
Auvergne   {see  William,  Count 

of) 
Avignon,    Papal    residence    at, 

127-30 


Balbo,  Cesare,  233 
Bale,  Council  of,  138-9 
Barbarossa,  Frederick,  104 
Barberini,  Matteo,  199 
Beckx,  Pierre  Jean,  236 
Bellarmine,  194 
Benedict  XIII.,  131-3,  136 
XIV.,  206-8,  253 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  103,  105, 

117,  228 
"  Bibhotheca  Palatina,"  197 
Bismarck,  250-2 
Bonaventm-a,  118 
Boniface  VIII.,  123-6 
IX.,  130-1 


371 


272 


Index 


Books,     Index    of    Forbidden, 

177,  179 
Boi-ghese  {see  Paul  V.) 
Borgia,  Lucrezia,  154 
Borgia,  Roderigo  {see  Alexander 

II.) 
Brandenburg,  Elector  of,  201 
Bruno,  Bishop,  70 
Byzantium    and     the    Papacy, 

46-7 


CiERULARius,  Michael,  72 
Cajetan,  Cardinal,  166,  170 
Calixtus  I.,  19-20 
„      II.,  96-8 
„    III.,  150-3 
Campeggio,  Cardinal,  173 
Candidus,  Cardinal,  83 
Cappellari  {see  Mauro) 
Caraffa,  Giovanni  Pietro,  176-7 
Carnesecchi,  Pietro,  186 
Carranza,  Bartoloiumeo,  186 
Catechism,  Roman,  186 
Cavour,  Count,  289 
Celibacy  of  Priests,  81 
Chalcedon,  Council  of,  35 
Charlemagne,  54-7 
Charles     Albert     of     Sardinia, 
234-5 
,,        of  Anjou,  120-1 
,,        Theodore  of   Bavaria, 

213 
„        v.,  Emperor,  173-4 
„      VI.  of  ;,Francc,  131 
Civilta    CattoUca,     236,     242, 

247 
Clairvaux  {see  Bernard,   Abbot 
of) 


Clemanges,  Nicholas  de,  181 
Clement     I.,  15 

„       m.,  92 

v.,  127-31 

„     VII.,  171-3 

„  VIII.,  188,  195 

„      IX.,  205 

„      XL,  201-2 

„  XIII.,  208,  212 

„    XIV.,  208-9,  212 
Clement  Wenzel  of  Treves,  212 
Clermont,  Assembly  at,  102 
Collegium       Romanum,      193, 

230-1 
Confession  at  Easter,  111 
Congregation  of  the  Propaganda, 

196 
Conrad  III.,  104 
Consalvi,  Marquis  Ercole,  222-3 
Constance,  Council  of,  134 
Constantine,   Donation    of,   81, 

53-4,  117,  143 
Constantinople,     Founding    of, 

28 
Contarini,  Gasparo,  75-6 
Copernicus,  229 
Cornelius,  Bishop,  21 
Crusades,  the,  102,  114 
Curia,  the,  100 

Cyprian,  Bishop   of    Carthage, 
22-6 


Damasus,  Bishop,  30-1 
Damiani,  Peter,  74 
Decius,  Emperor,  21 
Decretum  Gratiani,  106 
Defence  of  the  Catholic  Faith 
Suarez's,  196 


Index 


273 


Defensor  Pads,  126-7 
De  Bege,  Mariana's,  196 
Deusdedit,  Cardinal,  78 
Diether,  Archbishop,  149 
Dionysian      Controversy,     the, 

25-6 
Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Corinth,  14 
Dollinger,  243 
Dominus  ac  redemptor  noster, 

209-10 
Dual  Popes,  130-2 
Div  Pape,  de  Maistre's,  225-6 


EcK,  Dr.,  166 

Encyclicals  of  Leo  XIII.,  254-8, 

261-2 
Erfurt,  Synod  at,  81 
Eugenius  III.,  105 

IV.,  139-40 


Faber,  236 
Falk  Laws,  251 
Fea,  Carlo,  226-7 
Febronius,  Justmus,  212-3 
Felix  IL,  38 
Ferdinand  II. ,  260 
Firmilian,  Bishop,  24 
Forchheim,  Assembly  at,  91 
Forli,  Melozzo  da,  145 
Fomiosus,  Pope,  63 
Fra  Angelico,  143 
Francis  I.  of  France,  172 

„      Xavier,  196 
Franciscans,  Order  of,  116, 121- 

22 
Franco-Prussian    War,    355-7, 

405 


Frederick  I,  105-8 

IL,  109,  112-5 
III.,  148-9 
,,        the  Wise,  167 
Freemasons,  260 
Freytag,  Gustav,  54 
Funds  and  taxes,  100-1 


Galileo,  200,  229 

Gallican  liberties,  203 

Garibaldi,  235,  241 

Gelasius  L,  37 

Gerson,     Jean     Charlier      de, 

130-1 
Gioberti,  Vincenzo,  233 
Godfrey  of  Lorraine,  75 
Golden  Bull  of  Eger,  109 
Gregory  I.,  39-43 

„      IL,  47 

„      IIL,  47-9 

„      VII.,  74,  78-95 

„       IX.,  113-8 

„      XL,  130 

„      XII.,  133-6,  188-90 

„      XV.,  196,  228-9,  237 
Grotius,  Hugo,  211-2 
Guiscard,  Robert,  75,  92-3 
Gustavus  Adolphus  of  Sweden, 
200 


Hadrian  IV.,  105-6 
VI.,  169-71 
Hase,  Karl,  56 
Hemmerlin,  Canon,  137 
Henry  IIL,  70,  76 

„     IV.,    70,     76-7,    82-90, 
189,  196 


18 


274 


Index 


Heni-y  V.,  96-8 

„     VIII.,  173 
Hermes,  Georg,  231 
Hermit  of  Amiens,  102 
Hesse,  Philip,  Landgrave  of,  172 
Hildebrand  (see  Gregory  VII.) 
Hincmar,  Archbishop,  61-3 
Hippolytus,  Bishop,  20 
Hohenlohe,  Count  von,  252 
Honorius  I.,  45-6 

III.,  112-3,  116 
Hontheim,  Nicholas  von,  212-3 
Hugo,  Abbot,  67 
Humbert,  Cardinal-Bishop,  73 
Huss,  John,  135 


Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  14 
,,        de      Recalde     {see 
Loyola) 
Index    of     Forbidden     Books, 

177-9 
Indulgences,  162-4 
Infallibility   of    doctrinal  deci- 
sions, 245-7 
Influence,  political  and  secular, 

201-3 
Innocent  I.,  32 

II.,  100 
III.,  108-12 
IV.,  116,  120 
VIII.,  146,  151-2 
X.,  201,  204 
XL,  201 
Inquisition,  founding  of  Roman, 

177 
Investitures  struggle,  81  ff. 
Irenseua,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  17 
Italian  Kevolution,  232-4 


Jansenist  disputes,  203-5 
Jesuitism,  181-5, 192-8,  205-11, 

224,  230-1,  235 
Joachim  Philip  of  Treves,  212 
John,  King  of  England,  110 
XL,  64 

„       XIL,  64 

„       XXIL,  128 

„       XXIIL,  133-6 

,,      of  Jandun,  126 
Joseph  II.,  215-6 
Julius,  L,  31 

„       II.,  117,  146,  151, 154-7  " 

„      IIL,  178,  181 
Justinian,  38,  118 


Kaunitz,  Count,  216 
Ketteler,  245 
Kramers,  Heinrich,  152 
"  Kulturkampf,"  250 


Lacokdaire,  232 
Lagueronniere,  240 
Lainez,  181 
Lambruschini,  229 
Lamennais,  Abbe,  231-2 
Langenstein,  Henry  of,  130 
Lateran  Councils,  99,   108-12, 

157 
Lavigerie,  260 
Lenten  Synods,  81,  91 
Leo  I.,  32-7 

„    IIL,  46,  55 

„   IV.,  58-9 

.,   VIIL,  66 

„   IX.,  71-2,  75 

„   X.,  146-7,  154,  158-9 


Index 


275 


Leo  XII.,  226,  228 
„   XIII.,  161, 164-6,  169,  252- 
63 

Leopold  of  Tuscany,  216 
Lettres  provinciales,  204 
Liberius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  30 
Liutprand,  47-9 
Lombards,  the,  45-7,  51-2 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  145- 

146 
Lothair  of  Lorraine,  60 

„  Supplenbui'g,  103 

Louis  I.,  58 

„     XIV.,  201-2 
Louis,  Saint,  of  France,  121 

,,       of  Bavaria,  127-8 
Loyola,  180,  196 
Lucius  II.,  103 
Luther,  Martin,  165-9 
Lyons,  Council  of,  116 


Macaulay,  7,  264 
Maintenon,  Mdme.  de,  202 
Maistre,  Count  Joseph  de,  225- 

226 
Majolus,  Abbot,  67 
Malleus  Maleficarum,  153 
Manfred,  120 
Mantua,  Council  at,  176 
Map,  Walter,  101 
Marcellus  II.,  178 
Mariana,  196 
Marozia,  64 

Marsilius  of  Padua,  126 
Martel,  Charles,  48-50 
Martin  I.,  45 

„      v.,  136-9 
Matilda  of  Tuscany,  76,  92 


Mauro,  Father,  228-9 
Maximilian,  Emperor,  166-7 
Mazzini,  232 
Medici,  The,  145-6 
Mendicant  Orders,  116 
Money -collecting,  128-30 
Mommsen,  43 


Nantes,  Edict  of,  189 
Napoleon  I.,  219-22 

III.,  239,  241 
Nepotism,  129 

Nicaea,  Councils  of,  27,  33,  72 
Nicholas  I.,  59-63 

v.,  143-4,  149-50 
Nina,  256 

Nogaret,  William  de,  125 
Norbert  of  Xanten,  103 
Normans,     Relations     of     the 
Papacy  with,  81 


OcTAViAN,  "  Patrician,"  64 
Odilo,  Abbot,  67 
Otto  I.,  64-5 

„    III.,  68-9 
Oudinot,  Marshal,  235 


"Pallium"  fees,  101 
"  Papal  Trinity,"  133 
Pascal,  Blaise,  204 
Paschal  Controversy,  18-9 
Paschal  II.,  95-6,  107 
Pastor  ^ternus,  245 
Paul,  St.,  17 
Paul  IL,  144,  150 
„     IIL,  175-7,  181 


276 


Index 


Paul  IV.,  178-9, 182-3 

„    v.,  195-6 
Pelagius  II.,  40 
Pepin,  50-2 

Perrone,  Giovanni,  231,  244 
Peter,  St.,  9-11,  16-7,  23-5 
Peter,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  30 
Peter's  Pence,  101 
Philip  the  Fan-,  123-6 
Pisa,  Councils  at,  132-8,  156-9 
Pius  II.,  144,  150 
„     IV.,  183 
„     v.,  185-8,  194 
„     VI.,  210,  212-6 
„    VII.,  219-24,  227 
„     VIII.,  228 
„     IX.,  8,  223-48,  252 
„     X.,  264 
Plombieres,  Alliance  of  Victor 
Emmanuel  and  Napoleon  III. 
at,  239 
Polycarp,  18-9 
Portugal,  ICingdom  of,  108 
Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Bourges, 

138, 147,  157-8 
Propaganda,     Congregation    of 

the,  196 
Pseudo-Isidorian  Decretals,61-2 
Pufendorf,  212 


Quanta  Cura,  237 
Quesnel,  Paschasius,  205 
Quod  nnnquam,  252 


Eadetzky,  235 
Ranke,  7,  75,  221,  227 
Raphael,  117-8 


Ravaillac,  196 

Recalde,  Lopez  de  {see  Loyola) 
Reformation,  160  flf 
Regensburg,  Council  at,  176 
Regino,  Abbot,  60 
Reinald  of  Dassel,  107 
Risorgimento,  Italian,  232-4 
Roland,  Cardinal  {see  Alexander 

III.) 
Rome,  Sj'nod  at,  48,  75 
Roneaglia,  Plain  of,  105 
Roothaan,  230,  253 
Rosmini,  Antonio,  233 
Rossi,  Pellegrino,  234 
Rothe,  Richard,  59 
Rovere,  Francesco  della,  150-1 
„       Giuliano  della  {see  Julius 

11.) 
Rudolf  of  Swabia,  91-2 


St.  Bartholomew,  Massacre  of, 

189 
Saint-Martin,  225 
Salmeron,  183 
Sardica,  Synod  of,  31 
Schlegel,  Friedrich  August,  226 
Schulte,  235 
Senatrix   of   Rome  (Theodora), 

64 
Septimius    Seveinis,    Emperor, 

20 
Sicily,  112,  120 
Siegfried,   Ai'chbishop    of    Ma- 

yence,  81,  85 
Sigismund,  King,  134-6 
Simonists,   Humbert's    treatise 

against,  73 
Siricius,  Bishop  of  Rome,  32 


Index 


277 


Sixtus  II.,  21 

„      IV.,  144-5,  150 

„      v.,  188,  190-1,  194,  197 
Society  of  Jesus,  181 
Soter,  Bishop,  14-5 
Spires,  Protest  at,  180 
Sprenger,  Jacob,  152 
States  of  the  Church,  190 
Stephen  I.,  21-2 

„        III.,  51 
Suarez,  196 
Sutri,  Sj'nocl  at,  70 
Swords,  Doctrine  of  two,  117 
Sylvester  I.,  30 
„        IL,  69 
"  Synagogue  of  Satan,"  260 


Taxation,  128-30 

Taxil,  Leo,  260 

Templars,  Condemnation  of  the, 

128 
Theodosius,  28-30 
Theodora,  64 
Theodotus,  25 
Thessalonica,    Attitude    of,    to 

Rome,  34 
Thirty  Years'  War,  200 
Tolerance,  Joseph  II. 's  Charter 

of,  215 
Transubstantiation,  Doctrine  of, 

111 
Trent,  Council  of,  183,  185 
Tribur,  Diet  at,  88 
Triple  Alliance,  260 


Unatn  Sanctum,  Bull,  124, 126, 
168 


TJnigenitus  Constitution,  205 

Univers,  236 

Urban  II.,  95,  102 
„      IV.,  121 
„      VI.,  130 
„     VIII.,  199-201 


La  Valette,  208 

Valla,  Laurentius,  143-4 

Valentinian  III.,  33-5 

Venice,   Meeting  of  Alexander 

III.    and    Frederick    Barba- 

rossa  at,  107-8 
Veuillot,  Louis,  236 
Victor  I.,  19,  25 

„      IL,  95 

„      IV.,  107 
Victor  Emmanuel  I.,  224, 239-41 
Vienna,    Concordat    concluded 

at,  149 
Vigilius,  Pope,  38 
Vogelweide,  Walther  von  der, 

129 


Westphalia,  Peace  of,  201 
William  of  Auvergne,  67 

,,  ,,  Orange,  201 
Witches  Hammer,  153 
Worms,  Concordat  of,  96-8 

Diet  of,  167-8 
Wyclif,  John,  135 


Zacharias,  Pope,  50 
Zelanti,  227 
Zephyrinus,  Bishop,  19 
Zurich,  Peace  of,  239 


UJrWIN  BROTHERS,  LnnTED, 
WOKING  AND  LONDON. 


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The  papacy  :  the  idea  and  its  exponents 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00066  3122 


